Why Does My Air Conditioner Keep Freezing Up?

It’s summertime and the last thing you’d expect to see is your air conditioning unit frozen solid. If you find that your air conditioner keeps icing up during the hot months and cool nights, it could be due to multiple reasons. You can easily narrow down these causes and either try fixing it yourself or hiring a heating and air company in Evanston to repair it for you. Here is a list you can use to narrow down the freezing problem with your air conditioner:

1)      Check to see if your fan is working properly. If the fan in the AC unit isn’t churning out air like it’s supposed to, the cool air is confined within the unit, causing it to freeze over. If you notice that the fan isn’t moving air, then you can have an HVAC tech come by to check it out and repair it.

2)      If you have your air conditioner on all night during cool evenings, not only are you raising up your energy bill, but it’s freezing up your unit. A broken thermostat can also cause your AC to run all night if you are wondering why it is doing so.

3)      Check the refrigerant levels in your air conditioning unit. Believe it or not, when it doesn’t have enough coolant, it will cause the cold coil to become too cold, causing the unit to freeze. Fill it up, and if it runs out too quickly, it could be due to a leak. You will need an HVAC technician to come by and fix this problem.

4)      Replace dirty filters. Not doing so will block the cool air flow from being released from your unit, causing your coil to get too cold, causing the water to freeze before it is able to drain. You should also check the units registers to ensure that they are clear for air to flow through. Avoid closing cold air outlets in your home because this can cause the unit to freeze and raise up your power bill.

If you notice that the coil is frozen, you should immediately shut off your air conditioner to avoid the entire unit freezing up. Not doing so can also cause damage to your compressor, which is an expensive part to replace. Once the coil thaws out, if you notice that your unit is making ice, there could be a drainage problem. The water should drain from the unit, but since it isn’t ice is formed when you run the AC.