Air conditioner freezing up?

 

Why is my air conditioner freezing up? This can happen for a variety of reasons. But simply put, your air conditioner is freezing up because something is either causing the Freon in your system to expand more than it is designed. Or something is preventing the air in your house from transferring its heat into your system. Either way, this causes your evaporator coil to drop below freezing and your air conditioner to freeze up.

Some of the more common causes are:

1. Insufficient air flow across your air conditioner’s evaporator coil can cause it to freeze up. Your air conditioner is designed to drop the temperature of your house by taking heat from it. If you air conditioner is not properly blowing your inside air over the evaporator coil, then this heat exchange cannot take place. The Freon that should be removing heat from your home is not.
2. If your air conditioner is low on refrigerant, then your air conditioner can freeze up due to lower pressure inside the system itself. This is because now there is less Freon in your system. It is still being forced to expand the same amount – more expansion equals cooler temperatures. As your air conditioner’s evaporator coil drops below freezing, the moisture in your air will freeze as it comes in contact with your coil causing it to freeze up.
3. Air conditioners are designed to function in a very specific temperature range. Do not run your air conditioner when the outside temperature is less than 62 degrees. The pressures inside of your system will drop and this can cause freezing.
4. Mechanical failures can cause your air conditioner to freeze up. If there’s a kink in your refrigerant lines, a blower fan that is not running or is dinged and out of balance, or a clogged filter drier. These too can change the pressure in your system and make your unit freeze up.

Call a licensed technician like us here at LHT Cooling, Heating & Refrigeration, Inc. with your air conditioner freezing up. We can determine there are no refrigerant leaks or damages to the equipment. Our techs will diagnose the situation and avoid the issue from occurring in the future!