Living in coolness in the summer can be taken for granted, particularly until you experience a taste of discomfort with an air conditioner malfunction. It can happen at the worst moments; you’re eating lunch and abruptly feel how warm your kitchen feels or you can’t fall asleep at night because you are so toasty bound in your covers. Think you’re feeling this uncomfortable feeling? It might be the moment for an air conditioner replacement.
Usually, it isn’t the thermostat’s fault; the settings can be running correctly, but it still reads that the temperature is over 80 degrees. It’s often times caused by an old or faulty air conditioner that demands a call to the professionals to find out what’s wrong. There are many causes for why air conditioners stop working, especially taking into consideration the weather in York. Here are some things that you can examine for before you call Strine's Heating & Air Conditioning if you think your air conditioner has stopped working:
- Broken outdoor fan motor: There is a fan motor on your outdoor air conditioning system that helps move the heat from your home to the outdoors. If you examine your system and find that the fan isn’t functioning properly, it means that the heat transfer isn’t occurring, causing the warm air to stay in your home. This failure can also trigger overheating of the compressor and other potential internal destruction to your system.
- Dirty filters: It’s one of the most common issues that Strine's Heating & Air Conditioning sees. These unclean filters in your air conditioner reduce appropriate airflow, affecting the air quality in your home, which is really tricky when allergy season hits. Unclean air filters can also reduce the efficiency in your home and boost your monthly energy costs.
- Blocked air flow: Always search for an obstruction or obstruction in your return-air or supply-air grille. This can initiate your air conditioner to lose efficiency and decelerate.
TIP: Make sure the grilles aren’t hidden by furniture or other home items, also. - Outside obstructions: Good air flow could be also hindered from outdoor blockages near your system, such as shrubbery, trees, lawn chairs, etc. When the air flow is altered, it can influence it’s cooling capabilities. Make sure that your system is unrestricted by obstacles and is cleaned regularly to reduce the likelihood of air conditioner replacement.
Once you’ve completed these four system checks and your air conditioner still isn’t operating, here are a list of questions and steps that you should look into and answer to get your system up and working again. (Only move on to the next question if the system doesn’t turn on after doing the step before it):
- Is your thermostat temperature fixed below the indoor temperature?
- Is your system switch in the COOL position?
- Is the outdoor unit power supply switch ON?
- Is the furnace/air handler power supply ON?
- Is your house fuse box/breaker box intact or has it blown a fuse or tripped a circuit breaker?
- If none of these things change your system operation, call Strine's Heating & Air Conditioning at 717-383-4479.
Don’t let an air conditioner failure or replacement keep you up at night. If you follow these procedures and keep your system under regular maintenance, you should have you air conditioner operating again in no time. Our team at Strine's Heating & Air Conditioning in York is always here to assist – give us a call at 717-383-4479.