Lately, your AC isn’t providing cooling as it should. Warm air or low airflow may be coming out from your AC unit. A refrigerant leak is a common complaint about all ACs after a period of time. How do you check if your AC’s gas is leaking?
Loss of cooling power: Refrigerants are the most important substance for the cooling process. It absorbs the heat from indoors through an indoor coil, resulting in cooler air indoors. Then the refrigerant goes to the outdoor coil and releases heat outside. In case it leaks it has a smell and is easy to detect. This is a serious problem, because, if it is left without repairs, lower levels of refrigerant will cause damage to the compressor, and lead to overheating and burning out.
Most homeowners do not understand the importance of refrigerant in their air conditioner, even though it’s the one way their cooling systems can do their job. AC evaporates the refrigerant to absorb thermal energy from the air in the ducts. The refrigerant, in gas form, travels down the line to the condenser coil outside, where it is condensed back into the liquid state, to vent the collected thermal energy outside the home. Refrigerants do not run out regularly as gasoline does from a car. This means that if you’re losing any refrigerant, it means that your AC has a leak that must be accurately located, and repaired.
Vents not blowing cool air: Check the air coming from your vents. If it is not as cold as it should be, it could be due to an AC refrigerant leak. Contact an AC technician to fix it because it requires technicians to do it. The compressor should work more to properly cool your room. So before the problems get bigger it is better to consult with an AC technician.
It is one of the most common problems with HVAC systems, especially older ACs that haven't been maintained well. If the refrigerant is leaking in your air conditioner, you will notice airflow issues as well as reduced cooling. Usually, slow leaks cause a gradual decline in AC performance. Your AC technician can test for leaks and repair them to get things back to normal.
Sounds from indoor AC unit: A refrigerant leak can occur due to small holes in the coil that carries the gas. Though the hissing sound could be a sign of a variety of problems, a refrigerant leak is one among them. In quiet surroundings, you can hear the sound. If you hear any sound it's time to call an AC mechanic.
During normal AC operation, the refrigerant runs in a closed path in the AC system. But with time the copper tubes carrying the refrigerant can form leaks, and let the refrigerant escape. As the pressure inside the copper tube is high, it makes a hissing noise when the refrigerant escapes.
Frozen coils: The coils will not adequately absorb heat when the refrigerant levels circulating through the evaporator coils are insufficient. This will result in the condensation of the coils and lead to freezing of the coils. Sometimes the condensed areas will start to melt and drip on the floor. Check for ice around the outdoor refrigerant line. Though the ice on the evaporator coil might not seem like a problem, it could lead to a system breakdown and could cost you an expensive repair or compressor replacement. Ask your AC technician to inspect the evaporator coil for ice and/or condensation.
Refrigerant is the chemical that flows through your Air conditioner coil, changing pressure and temperature in order to absorb heat. If it leaks, the low pressure will make it absorb more heat than it should. This makes the refrigerant coils freeze.
Elevated electricity bills: Now we know that the AC will perform poorly after a gas leak. People start to dial down the temperature of the AC and allow it to work for a longer time expecting the AC to cool down your room. This is going to reflect on your electricity bills. If you get unusually high electricity bills and your AC isn't performing as expected, then you must call for an AC service to fix it as soon as possible. A study shows that a leaking air-conditioner consumes 20% more electricity. This also puts more load on the compressor. Since the cost of repairing a compressor is higher than fixing a gas leak, it is better to fix the gas leak as soon as possible. If any such problems occur, please let an AC technician fix it.
There are other problems associated with gas leaks. AC gases are harmful to human health. Being exposed to it for a long time can be dangerous.