Refrigerant inside of your air conditioner plays a huge role in how well it is able to keep your home cool. When a refrigerant leak happens, there isn’t an adequate enough charge to meet your cooling needs. The air conditioner ends up staying on longer in an attempt to cool your home without the ability to do so.
You can keep reading for more about the signs of refrigerant problems and what needs to be done about them. Then give our team a call for your AC repair in Lakewood Ranch. We can troubleshoot with your air conditioner and get down to the root of the problem, fixing it so that your AC is back to working at its best.
How Does Refrigerant Work?
Refrigerant is constantly moving through the AC lines to absorb heat from inside your home and channel it outside to remove heat from the air. When the refrigerant moves into your home, it is in its liquid form. As it absorbs heat, it expands into a gas. This gas channels to the outdoor portion of the AC unit /air-conditioning/maintenance-repair where heat gets released and the refrigerant compresses back down into a liquid.
Signs of Refrigerant Problems
You can identify refrigerant leaks in a variety of different ways. One of the more obvious signs that you have a refrigerant leak is a lack of overall cooling. Without enough of a refrigerant charge, your air conditioner will continue to operate, but the air blowing out of vents will not be as cool as it would be if you had a full refrigerant charge. This is a problem that will impact your entire home. Lacking cool airflow in a single room doesn’t point to a refrigerant problem. Instead, that points to a ductwork problem.
When refrigerant is leaking out of the lines, you may also smell something slightly sweet. Refrigerant is a chemical, so it often smells like a chemical although it has a lightly sweet edge to it. It’s easy to wave this off it’s not a big deal since the smell is not always very strong. However, if you suspect a refrigerant leak at all, it’s better to have your air conditioner checked out than to ignore the problem.
One final way to identify a refrigerant leak is by paying attention to the unusual sounds. Refrigerant alternates between being a gas or a liquid. Leaks can make a hissing or bubbling sound depending on where they are in the lines. If you hear your AC making a hissing or bubbling sound during operation, a refrigerant leak is the most likely culprit.
Tips for Refrigerant Line Repair
Refrigerant is perfectly safe as long as the chemical remains securely in the line of your air conditioner. But when it comes to a leak, the chemical is dangerous. You should not attempt to clean it up on your own or make any repairs to the lines.
Instead, turn off your air conditioner, keep your kids and pets away from the leak, and leave the repairs to us. We can identify where the leak is coming from, repair the line, and then recharge a refrigerant so you have adequate levels for cooling.
Do yourself a favor and contact Jim McDonald & Sons Heating & Cooling for air conditioning service in Siesta Key, FL. Cooling Sarasota and Manatee Counties since 1970!