Understanding HVAC Systems

Welcome to my blog! My name is Darren. My friends say that I am boring because I love the HVAC system in my home. I am not an HVAC professional, I just love the gentle hum of my air conditioning system as it gently brings the air in my home to the perfect temperature. When I was a kid, my family couldn't afford air conditioning so I spent many summers sweating away and feeling miserable. I vowed to myself then that when I grew up, I would have the best HVAC system money could buy. I hope you find my HVAC blog useful.

Air Conditioner Not Working as it Should? You Might Have a Coolant Leak

Blog

Many people probably don't give much thought as to how their air conditioner actually works. You turn it on, it sucks in air from outside, chills it, then pipes it into your home, right? Well, not quite. Much like the fridge in your kitchen, your air conditioner utilises a coolant to chill the air before releasing it into the room. This coolant is crucial for the effective performance of an air conditioner. A coolant leak could happen for a variety of reasons and in a variety of locations throughout your air conditioner. But how serious is such a leak?

Detecting a Coolant Leak

There are a number of ways in which a coolant leak somewhere in your air conditioner can become noticeable.

  • Despite not using your unit any more than is usual, your electricity bills might be creeping upwards. This is because the unit is straining to operate at the specified level due to the loss of coolant, and so is utilising more electricity than it otherwise would use.
  • The air conditioner might simply not be cooling the air, even in its higher settings. This is because the loss of coolant has made the overall performance of the unit less effective, and its performance will continue to decline.
  • There is also the risk that normal operation of an abnormal air conditioner will vaporise trace amounts of the coolant and will release this into your home, which can be harmful to your health.

Repairing a Coolant Leak

It can be difficult to ascertain just where a leak might be coming from. It could conceivably be anywhere in your unit, from the water coils to one of its control valves or anywhere a sealant has been applied. The problem will only worsen to the point that your air conditioner will be rendered largely useless, and of course, you don't want to run the risk of prolonged exposure to stray coolant. Air conditioning repair is definitely required. The source of the leak will quickly be located and repaired, and the rest of the unit will be inspected to ensure that it hasn't sustained damage from the loss of coolant and subsequent abnormal operation. The remaining coolant will also need to be topped up to return the air conditioner to its usual capabilities.

However small the leak might be, a coolant leak in your air conditioner needs to be identified and repaired as soon as possible.

Share

4 December 2018