The refrigerant, or freon, in your air conditioner is what gives it its cooling ability. People sometimes believe they should also replace the refrigerant in their home’s air conditioning system because the refrigerant in automobiles occasionally has to be refilled. However, unless your AC didn’t receive sufficient refrigerant upon being initially installed or has a leak, you should not even ever need to replace your AC’s refrigerant.
What Is Refrigerant?
Typically, brands like Puron are used to refer to gas refrigerants. In order for a central air system to provide the best air conditioning, refrigerant is necessary. It is responsible for starting the heating and cooling cycles. Without refrigerants, air conditioning cannot maintain any temperature.
How the Central Air Conditioning System Works
The refrigerant cycle starts in the compressor, where the refrigerant is compressed into a heated, high-pressure gas. The compressor is housed in the condenser. This heated, high-pressure gas changes into a high-pressure liquid after cooling in the condensing coil.
A high-pressure liquid is pushed to the home’s evaporator coil. After passing through a metering device, the high-pressure liquid is changed into a low-pressure liquid. If the outside air is cold enough to heat the refrigerant as it passes over the coil, only cold air will enter your home. As the refrigerant in a liquid state absorbs the temperature of the air, it changes into a cold gas. The action is once more restarted when the compressor has been cooled by the returning cold gas refrigerant.
3 Signs You Have Low AC Refrigerant
- Increased energy bills: Your HVAC system will use more energy as it works harder to cool your house since there is less refrigerant. Your energy expenses will increase as a result of this increased energy demand.
- A constantly running system: Low refrigerant levels make it more difficult for your system to remove heat from your home, requiring more time for it to operate in order to cool your home. There’s a strong probability you will have a refrigerant problem if the air conditioner never turns off.
- A warmer than normal home: Low AC refrigerant immediately affects the cooling capacity of your AC, making your home warmer. The lack of refrigerant in your air conditioner makes it difficult for it to effectively expend heat from inside your house to the outside. As summertime temperatures increase and your home has to expend more heat, this problem will get worse.
What to Do If You Have Low AC Refrigerant
When your HVAC system begins to exhibit the primary symptoms of low refrigerant, it’s time to contact a technician to get it inspected. It’s better to trust a low AC refrigerant problem to the experts, as your AC needs a precise amount of refrigerant and may require a complex leak repair.
When you make an appointment with an HVAC expert for air conditioning service, they’ll check your unit for leaks. If they discover any leaks due toย corrosion, cracks, holes, or other factors, they will probably fix the leak and thenย refill your appliance with the appropriate quantity of refrigerant. However, if the AC is beyond its intended lifespan or the deterioration is severe, they would recommend replacing the entire unit.
Endnote
A specialist must handle the refrigerant. In addition to being risky, handling refrigerants without the proper certification is also illegal. Contact an HVAC expert right away if you suspect there is a refrigerant leak or if your refrigerant is running low. Licensed HVAC professionals can handle the machinery and chemicals securely and without putting themselves in any form of danger because they have received training in the proper usage of refrigerants.
