Why Your Air Conditioner is Freezing Up and What To Do About It

If your air conditioner is freezing up, you will know immediately. If your house is suddenly warm in the dog days of summer, this could be the problem.


What To Do If Your Air Conditioner Freezes Up

• Shut off the system to avoid risking damage to the compressor.
• While you wait for the ice to melt, find the condensate drain and make sure it isn't plugged.
• The un-thawing process can take up to 3 hours.
• Once the ice is melted, turn the air conditioner back on. It should start cooling your home immediately.

What Causes an air conditioner to freeze up?

There are several things that can cause this:

• Dirty Air Filter: Restricted air flow is the culprit frequently. It is extremely important to change or clean your filter once a month.
• Low refrigerant levels: Whether you have a leak, or the freon was overcharged at installation, low freon can make the evaporator coil to cold. Call an air conditioning company to fix the leak, or to have the refrigerant recharged according to manufacturer directions.
• Drainage Problems: When hot humid air blows across the evaporator coil, the coil removes heat and moisture from the air. In humid areas like Florida, this can turn into condensation within the air conditioner. In normal circumstances, the water drips into the drain pan and out of a floor drain. If something blocks the drain, the backed up water freezes all the way back to the coil.Check the drain pan weekly in the summer to make sure the water is dripping into the pan. 

The best way to make sure these things don't happen to your unit is to have a maintenance plan. To learn more or schedule a repair, please contact Emery Air and Heat. Proudly serving Brevard County since 1976.