Why Does My AC Ice Up?

In the middle of summer, you’re obvisiouly going to have your AC unit cranked up to cool your home. But just because your air conditioner is blowing cold air hours upon hours throughout the day, that doesn’t mean it’s a freezer! If you see your AC ice up, especially on the evaporator coil in the indoor unit, you should contact an HVAC professional immediately!

An AC ice up indicates there’s a problem with your system. There are 2 common reasons that this problem develops.

You have a refrigerant leak

If your evaporator coil is iced over, especially if you notice frost or ice on the refrigerant lines, you may definitely have a refrigerant leak in your system. Refrigerant plays a significant role in the air conditioning process. So this type of leak can have serious consequences. Possibly very expensive ones, if not repaired immediately.

Refrigerant evaporates in the evaporator coil, which lets heat get drawn out into the air. If your system doesn’t have enough refrigerant, the coil gets too cold. Condensation collected on it freezes up – causing the AC ice up that you may see. The solution is to have the leak sealed and the refrigerant charged to the right level.

You may just need a new filter

Before you contact your HVAC professional, check to make sure your air filter isn’t just dirty. A dirty filter restricts air flow. This can cause the coil to get too cold as not enough heat is drawn out of the air. When that happens, it causes an AC ice up. The plus side to this problem is that air filters are cheap, easy to replace, and they make a huge difference.

To make sure things are working right, schedule your AC services with A-Abel.