What Causes A Window Air Conditioner To Ice Up

Faulty thermostats and drainage problems are often causes of a freeze up.

What causes a window air conditioner to ice up.

If the coils are frozen the ice will cause a blockage for the drain hole. When there is excess moisture inside the ac water will leak. If your air conditioner s icing up you ll know it even if you can t see the ice. It is important to address this issue a frozen air conditioner will not only cool improperly but can actually be severely damaged if.

In the cooling process an ac unit condenses water vapor into liquid that drains outside. Before you learn what causes an air conditioner to freeze you need to know what steps to take if your a c has frozen over. As a result most of the cool air continues to stay around the evaporator coil and fins causing the temperature around them to drop. As a result ice is formed and gradually more ice began to built up and eventually.

This is why it is important to not run your ac during cold weather. When the refrigerant inside a central air conditioning unit falls below 32 degrees fahrenheit humidity that surrounds the coils freezes. In other words what gets pumped out of the. Bring the unit outdoors and spray the front and rear coils with an air conditioner coil cleaner following the manufacturer s directions.

Your air conditioner is designed to operate in outdoor temperatures that are above 62º f. When air flow or air circulation from the unit to the room and vice versa is restricted the exhange of thermal energy between the air conditioner and the room is restricted. Temperatures below 62º f will cause your system s pressure to drop and this will cause it to freeze or ice up. Rinse the coils with a hose if necessary some cleaners are self.

If your window air conditioner is not sealed correctly the warmer air from outside gets inside the air conditioner. Change the ac air filter every 3 months to avoid any smells and ac problems. If you have a window ac unit you can use a hairdryer to unfreeze. There are a number of reasons for an air conditioner to freeze up and it really doesn t matter whether it is a window ac unit or a central air conditioner the causes of and solutions to an air conditioner that keeps freezing up are exactly the same.

The ac still runs but doesn t properly cool the home and uses a lot more electricity. Just place your hand over a supply register and if you feel minimal airflow you could have a frozen air conditioner on your hands. A nomal in wall or split a c uses external air to cool the condensor where a portable unit can not do this so it creates a vacuum in the room by pumping out the heated air passing through the internal condensor of course the vacuum causes hot hot air to be sucked into the room usually under or around the entry door to replace the pumped out air. When this happens the moisture that is in the warmer air will be condensed by the colder air inside the air conditioner.

Changing the air filter every 90 days will reduce any odors and mechanical problems. Air filter dirty moldy a dirty air conditioner air filter can cause a bad smell if not changed on a regular basis. So if this is happening to you make sure you have a good seal around the window ac. Coils frost up when running the central air.