When you turn on your AC or heat pump, do you hear crackling noises like ice breaking? That’s an indication your Ramseur, North Carolina, home’s coils are frozen. There are a number of reasons your HVAC system can have frozen coils, including dirt buildup and refrigerant leaks.
To understand why coils freeze, you need to understand how they work. In a nutshell, air runs over your coils, exchanging warm air for cool (air conditioning) or cool air for warm (heating). The refrigerant in the coils evaporates as this heat exchange happens, moving to the compressor to become a cold liquid again.
You Have a Refrigerant Leak
If the refrigerant levels in your HVAC system get low, the heat exchange process that happens becomes uneven. As a result, the coils can freeze.
You need a professional to fix the leak and replenish the refrigerant. You aren’t supposed to lose any refrigerant in this closed system.
Your Coils Are Dirty
Dirt on the coils prevents the heat exchange process from happening correctly. This disrupted process, again, causes coils to freeze if it happens for too long.
The coils shouldn’t get dirty. Assess your HVAC filter choices if you’ve got dirty coils. Don’t clean the coils yourself, though. A professional should clean the coils, since you can damage them.
Your Air Filter is Dirty
A dirty air filter impedes the airflow over your coils. The HVAC system needs to pull a certain amount of air over the coils.
If that doesn’t happen, it disrupts the heat exchange process and results in frozen coils. Usually this problem happens in conjunction with dirty coils, thanks to the dirty filter, and it exacerbates the freezing issue.
Frozen coils will cause your HVAC system to stop heating and cooling effectively. You’ll waste energy running your system for longer while getting subpar results. For help with frozen coils, call Charlie’s Heating and Cooling at (336) 629-5453.
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