Why Does Your Air Conditioner Freeze in Summer?

July 20, 2017

The summer can get so hot in Hudsonville, so how in the world is your home’s air conditioner freezing over? It seems to make no sense. You may not even realize it’s occurring. How will you notice if your air conditioner is frozen? It may seem like a crazy question, but you generally won’t actually see the ice except in extreme cases. Here are symptoms to monitor for that indicate you could be working with a frozen AC system that could require air conditioning service:

  • Warm air is coming out of your registers while the air conditioner is running.
  • Water is leaking from or gathering under your air conditioner.

When we say the air conditioner is frozen, what’s actually frozen is the evaporator coil, which transports heat out of your home to maintain the cooler temperatures. There are two main reasons that an evaporator coil may freeze; one is a refrigerant leak and the other is a blockage of airflow.

If your air conditioner has a refrigerant leak, you will want to talk with your West Michigan Heating & Air Conditioning Services technician during your air conditioning service appointment to determine if you will benefit more from repairing or replacing your air conditioner. We can help you evaluate the pros and cons using background such as the age of your air conditioner and its service history, as well as other things.

If your air conditioner has frozen because of an airflow blockage, it’s because there isn’t sufficient air passing over the evaporator coil to dry the condensation that develops on it—then it freezes. Air flow blockages are frequently caused by dirty air filters or even dirty cooling fins. These problems can be remedied (and avoided!) by a routine air conditioner service appointment. At these service sessions, your technician will clean your system, replace your air filters and make sure everything is working as it should with no potential issues on the horizon. It’s also a valuable idea to mark your calendar or set a reminder on your phone to check your air filters frequently and change your air filters when they are dirty. Always make sure that furniture, curtains and other household items aren’t blocking your registers, as even this could cause a large airflow problem and the subsequent freezing problems.

If your air conditioner freezes, turn it off using your thermostat and call the experts at West Michigan Heating & Air Conditioning Services to schedule an air conditioning service appointment. We’ll help you identify the issue and have your home back to cool and comfortable quickly. Call us at (616) 319-1436 to arrange an appointment with us.