Important Symptoms Of Air Conditioner Refrigerant Leakage

Posted by Michael Griffin on December 13th, 2019

If your AC isn’t cooling your room, you might want to call an air conditioning service Port St Lucie to check for refrigerant leakage. A refrigerant is a gas or liquid compound that absorbs heat creating a cooling effect. It plays a central role in the air conditioner’s cooling system. An AC unit contains a certain amount of refrigerant that remains the same under normal circumstances. It could leak due to damage to the copper coils or loose connections. This can affect the AC unit’s overall performance. If the refrigerant leaks, the point of the leakage needs to be fixed or replaced before the gas is refilled.

Symptoms Of AC Refrigerant Leakage

Check these symptoms of refrigerant leakage to know if you need to call ac repair Port St Lucieor not:

1. Room Taking Longer To Cool

The refrigerant absorbs the heat from the room’s air and carries it outside. If it’s leaking, the coils don’t have enough gas due to which not enough heat is being absorbed from the room. This could result in the room taking longer to cool.

2. Vent Blowing Warm Air

This can happen when the refrigerant levels are very low. When there’s a low amount of gas, the coils aren’t able to absorb as much heat as they should from the room. This results in warm air blowing out of the vents.

3. Frozen Coils

When there isn’t enough refrigerant flowing through the evaporator coils, it won’t absorb enough heat. This can cause condensation to build up in coils and freeze them. The frozen coils may melt and leak moisture. If left unchecked, frozen coils can result in the system to breakdown and increase the cost of repair because you may need to replace the compressor unit.

4. Hissing Noises

If the leakage is caused by holes in the refrigerant lines, you might hear some hissing noises as the gas leaks out. You can hear the noise either in the indoor unit or the outdoor unit depending on where the puncture is. Shut the unit down before checking for hissing noises.

5. Leak Detector Test

You can use a leak detector to check if the coils are leaking. Hold the tip of the device close to the unit’s coils. Start from a convenient point and follow the coils throughout the entire length to know where the leak is occurring if at all.

6. Hike In Electricity Bill

When your HVAC doesn’t cool your room fast enough due to leakage, you might be tempted to set the thermostat to the lowest setting. This requires more power which results in a hike in the power bill. Compare last year’s bill with this year’s bill to check for such hikes and check the unit for other symptoms listed above before calling ac repair Port St Lucie.

A reliable air conditioning service Port St Lucie, will detect the point of the leak, fix it and refill the compound if required. In some cases, some HVAC parts may need to be replaced. Fixing the leak before refilling is necessary to prevent future leaks.

Symptoms Of Freon Poisoning

HVAC units older than 2010 use Freon, a tasteless and odorless hydrofluorocarbon compound, as a refrigerant labeled R22. This compound depletes the ozone layer and can harm your health as well when inhaled. In addition to the symptoms listed above, Freon leakage may result in Freon poisoning. Symptoms of Freon poisoning include nausea, dizziness, coughing and vomiting. In severe cases, victims may have difficulty breathing, fluid build-up in the lungs, etc. If you suspect Freon poisoning, move to fresh air and call emergency services.

It is set to be phased out by 2020 as per EPA’s directions and replaced with Puron (labeled R410a). If you suspect a leakage, you may need to replace the unit as the two gas systems are not compatible with each other. Certified technicians may be able to fix the leakage and refill the gas for a considerable price.