
Air Conditioner Repair: Why Is My AC Blowing Hot Air? | San Antonio, TX
San Antonio, TX, is an excellent city to call home. However, the weather here can sometimes get extremely hot, especially in summer. As such, nearly every house in the city has an air conditioning system. The air conditioner is a device that helps to keep your house comfortably cool even on the hottest days. It does this by extracting heat from your indoor air and releasing it outside your home. The cooled air is then forced to circulate to all the rooms of your home through ductwork. As such, when your air conditioning system is working as expected, you can feel the cool air coming into your room when you move closer to a vent. However, if your air conditioning system is malfunctioning, it might blow hot air, contrary to your expectations. Unfortunately, this means that instead of cooling your home, your AC might end up making things worse, meaning that you will need to make a quick call to your air conditioner repair service to help you resolve the problem and restore your home’s comfort. But what exactly can lead to such a problem? Below are some possible reasons your AC might be blowing hot air and how the best professional air conditioner repair service in San Antonio, TX, can help.
Dirty Evaporator Coils
The evaporator coils found in your air conditioner’s indoor unit are an integral component of your air conditioning system. Their job essentially involves increasing the surface area for the refrigerant flowing through them to absorb heat from your indoor air more efficiently. With time, these coils can attract ducts and get covered with dirt. Unfortunately, a layer of dirt and dust on the surface of the coils might affect its capacity to absorb heat from your indoor air. Unfortunately, this means that the warm air being blown over the coils may not be cooled as expected, meaning that the air coming into your rooms through the vents might feel warm. Therefore, if you have noticed that your AC is blowing warm air, this is one of the likely areas your professional air conditioner repair expert will check. If the coils are too dirty, the professional air conditioner repair expert will clean them thoroughly. To prevent the issue, it is important to ensure that you seek annual AC tune-up services.
Low Refrigerant Level
The refrigerant is a chemical with an extraordinary ability to absorb heat and release it when required to do so. It is circulated between the evaporator coil (from where it extracts heat from your indoor air) and the condenser coil (from where it releases heat outside your house). For your air conditioning system to operate optimally, it will need to have an adequate amount of refrigerant. Therefore, if there is a refrigerant leak and the level of your refrigerant has consequently dropped substantially, the ability of your air conditioner to absorb and release heat will decline, and eventually, your air conditioner will blow warm air since it will not be in a position to cool your indoor air. To troubleshoot an air conditioner that is blowing hot air, your air conditioner repair service will have to check the refrigerant level. If the level is lower than normal, the expert will look for leaks and fix them before refilling the refrigerant.
Leaking Ducts
If you use a forced-air HVAC system, ductwork should be one of its most important components. This network of ducts helps with ensuring that the cooled air gets to every room of your house. In other words, the ductwork ensures your home gets evenly cooled. Unfortunately, if your ductwork is poorly maintained, it will gradually deteriorate and start developing leaks. In addition to losing the cooled air before it can get to where it is needed, leaking ductwork will also absorb the hot air around it and push it into your rooms. Therefore, if you have some leaking ducts, you might experience hot air instead of cool air coming through the vents, no matter how hard your air conditioning appliance works. Therefore, when you call your air conditioner repair service due to your AC blowing hot air, they might decide to inspect the ducts. If the ducts are leaking, they will seal them correctly. You might also be advised to get your ducts inspected and cleaned regularly to ensure that any developing leaks are fixed before they can lead to more serious air conditioning problems.
Malfunctioning Outdoor Unit
Your air conditioner outdoor unit has to be in perfect shape for your air conditioning system to work as expected. This unit houses the condenser coil responsible for releasing the heat from your house into the atmosphere. Therefore, if the outdoor unit loses power for some reason, your air conditioner will not manage to extract heat from your home. Similarly, if the outdoor unit is covered with dirt or vegetation, your air conditioning system might also struggle to do its job. Such problems with the outdoor unit will cause your air conditioner to blow hot air instead of cool air. Therefore, if your AC is blowing hot air into your home, the outdoor unit is one of the obvious areas your air conditioner repair expert will check. If it is broken, they will fix it accordingly. If it is covered with dirt and vegetation, they will clear the vegetation and clean the unit thoroughly.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, if your conditioning system is blowing hot air, there are several areas that your air conditioner repair expert will need to check. The good news is that the most common underlying causes of the problem are straightforward for professional HVAC contractors to diagnose and fix. If you are looking for a dependable HVAC contractor licensed to offer professional air conditioner repair services in and around San Antonio, TX, bluefrog Plumbing + Drain + HVAC of San Antonio is an excellent choice. Get in touch with us to learn more about our company and services.