We know that with the summer heat, the air conditioning system in your house is one of your best friends right now. You’ll probably need it running for several hours each day to manage comfortable temperatures, and just feeling the crisp air coming from the vents is a great relief.
However, even if you’re receiving cool air from the AC, you might not have complete cooling throughout your house. Maybe one or two rooms are hotter than normal no matter how long the AC runs. We’re glad that you’re not ignoring this issue, because uneven cooling from a central air conditioner often points toward bigger problems developing—some of which can lead to having no working AC at all!
We’ll examine several of the potential causes of uneven cooling to help you know when you need to call us for air conditioning repair in Uniontown, OH, or elsewhere in Stark and Summit counties.
A clogged air filter
Checking the air filter for the HVAC system is always a good first step when you notice anything going wrong with your AC. The filter will clog over only one to three months, and when it’s congested it won’t allow as much warm air into the air conditioner to get cooled. This reduction in air volume can lead to some rooms getting the cooling they need and others falling short. Change the filter for a clean one to see if this restores even cooling.
Refrigerant leaks
Whenever you notice the AC is falling behind in some way, like uneven cooling, it’s possible the system has lost some of its refrigerant charge to leaks. This is a major malfunction that will eventually cause the AC to overheat and the compressor to fail. If you’ve also detected a rise in humidity along with the uneven cooling, then the signs point even stronger toward an AC running on a low refrigerant charge. You must have professionals locate the leaks, seal them, then recharge the refrigerant to its factory level.
Duct leaks
Another type of leak could be the trouble: leaks in the air ducts. Leaks will cause a general decline in AC efficiency, but they’ll specifically affect the cooling levels for the rooms connected to the damaged stretches of duct. If the warm rooms also have a dusty or moldy odor, that’s an extra indication of duct leaks. HVAC technicians can accurately seal the leaks to restore the ducts’ airtight condition.
Short cycling
This is a symptom with many different causes, too many to go into here. The short version is that the AC shuts off its cooling cycle too early and then turns back on again in a rapid start-stop pattern. This doesn’t allow enough time for cool air to reach all the rooms.
Over the hill AC
Finally, the air conditioner may simply be reaching the end of its service life. A loss of cooling capacity will first emerge as uneven cooling, so if your AC is more than 12 years old, this problem is a good reason to ask your technicians about whether it’s time for a replacement.
Reach out to Crown Group Ohio—Your Comfort Experts Since 1963.