What Can Cause A Need For Emergency Heating And AC Repair Services? | Fort Worth, TX
If you’re a Fort Worth, TX resident, you understand how humid and hot it becomes when the summer season finally kicks in. It isn’t uncommon to find some homes where the HVAC system runs day and night, week-in-week-out. This isn’t surprising, though, given the temperatures can reach 96 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperatures are higher in other areas of Texas.
Hence, an emergency heating and AC repair service becomes critical in ensuring the comfort of your home. As protecting the furnace is critical during winter, the air conditioner should be maintained appropriately to ensure that the unit operates at its top efficiency at the onset of summer. Regardless of the time of the year, the last thing you want is the HVAC system breaking down. Unfortunately, issues will arise even with meticulous maintenance. While some are just the usual ones, there are air conditioner issues that require the attention of an emergency heating and AC repair service provider.
Otherwise, they might result in serious damage to your home. In such a case, you want a dependable technician available whenever an issue arises. One thing about emergency air conditioner issues is that they cannot wait to be addressed later. The sooner they are resolved, the lesser the damage and costs. Remember, an air conditioner is an electrical appliance. This means that some problems might cause fires at your home.
How Can You Best Avert the Costly Emergency Heating and AC Repair Service?
This is a question that baffles homeowners on various fronts. However, it is pretty easy to steer clear of air conditioning repairs. What you have to do is to retain an AC repair company for routine maintenance and inspection of the HVAC system. When the emergency heating and AC repair service provider comes for maintenance, they will catch any developing issues early enough and fix them. This is akin to straightening the tree when still young. Hence, the problems will not have a chance to develop to a damaging extent. The chances of the issue developing to the extent that it becomes an emergency are minimized. As a result, the air conditioner will run extra efficiently and give you peace of mind.
What Factors Increase the Danger of an Emergency Air Conditioning Repair
The Age of Your HVAC Unit
Is your HVAC unit past 15 years old? Even with meticulous and regular maintenance, some HVAC units start showing damage over ten years. With advanced age, the HVAC unit gets less energy-efficient, producing less cold air whenever needed. The older units also use a non-environmentally friendly refrigerant called R22 (freon). Since the production of this coolant is banned in the US, you will have a hard time resupplying the coolant.
Today, R22 can only be found by recycling the stocks of your older air conditioners. As your HVAC unit gets older, it starts requiring more repairs. Due to the increased operational costs, replacing it makes it more economical than continuing regular and frequent repairs.
However, installing a new air conditioner isn’t cheap. But if you install an energy-efficient unit, you will recoup the profits in terms of money saved from energy utility bills. The newer systems also need less maintenance and repairs. However, you should consult your emergency heating and AC repair service provider to select a unit of the right size. If you choose a unit that is too small, it will encounter issues cooling your house.
On the other hand, an oversized unit will experience short cycling because it will cool your home quickly. This exposes it to wear and tear. It will also be unable to remove the indoor air’s humidity. Remember, installing an air conditioner is a significant investment. Hence, you better make it worthwhile.
Whenever You Notice Ice on the Evaporator Coils
Seeing ice forming or collecting on your AC unit’s evaporator coils is the last thing you might expect. However, this will happen if the evaporator coils don’t get enough heat. The coils are supposed to prevent the heated air from freezing over. They absorb the heat from the incoming warm air from your Fort Worth, TX, home. An issue with the filters or a dirty filter might restrict airflow over the evaporator coils. The ice or frost might form on the evaporator coils if the refrigerant levels are too low because of a leakage.
Any of the above issues results in lower cooling from your HVAC unit. Fortunately, an air conditioning repair service provider can resolve the above issues. However, if you are the kind of homeowner that doesn’t give maintenance due regard, the coils might completely freeze. When this happens, you’ll be left with an issue that will certainly need emergency heating and AC repair service. This is because the unit will not cool the air.
Higher Energy Bills
Energy utility costs are nowadays on the rise. Hence, you must spare no effort in reducing energy consumption. One of the main ways of ensuring minimal energy consumption is ensuring the air conditioner is regularly maintained by an emergency heating and AC repair service provider. Issues with any components of the AC will result in a knock-on effect. This means that the other components will put in an extra effort to compensate. The harder working components use more energy, driving up the electric utility bills. They also suffer wear and tear. Further, they are exposed to burnout and overheating, meaning they will need an emergency heating and AC repair service.
Furnace Problems
Most furnace-associated problems will also be caught if you have a routine inspection and maintenance service. Your HVAC system’s furnace also has filters that should be regularly replaced. The airflow is restricted whenever the air filters get dirty, meaning the furnace’s heating efficiency will take a toll. Fortunately, an emergency heating and AC repair service can ensure that the air quality at your house improves.
If the furnace is powered by gas, it will need a constant gas supply to work efficiently. If the filters are dirty, the airflow into the furnace will be inhibited, resulting in improper ignition inside the combustion chamber. Any exhaust gasses produced by the furnace, such as carbon monoxide, are carried away via the vents. Hence, emergency heating and AC repair service in Fort Worth, TX, is essential.
Whenever You Realize the HVAC Unit Is Short Cycling
HVAC units have a cooling cycle that allows for a maximum cooling effect. Normally, a cooling cycle lasts for about 20 minutes. The compressor is turned on for about 10 minutes and then switched off for another 10 minutes, completing the cycle. There will be a lower cooling effect if the compressor suddenly switches off or on. Because of the overworking, the compressor will be exposed to wear out more, prompting a need for an emergency heating and AC repair service or repair.
When Should an Air Conditioning Issue Be Considered an Emergency?
Although not all AC issues are equal, a wide range of characteristics can help a homeowner define what can and cannot be considered an AC emergency. Below is some information to know before calling an emergency air conditioning repair technician.
Issues with Electrical Installation
At times, problems with power installations at your Fort Worth, TX home might be the reason for other more serious issues with the air conditioner. If the AC isn’t working efficiently and properly, look at the thermostat and see if it is throwing some error. The other issue that should concern you is when the air conditioner only works for certain settings but intermittently or never on others. Whenever there are issues with your electrical wiring, the power getting fed into the AC may be cut off.
If the thermostat isn’t showing any readings, have an emergency heating, and AC repair service technician inspect the circuit breakers or the fuse box. They might even reset them if they are tripped or misconfigured. This might resolve the problem. If it doesn’t, then there is a larger underlying issue. The AC issues caused by the faulty electrical installation are pretty minor. However, if they are left for long, they might damage the AC system or even pose a serious hazard to your home. You can save yourself thousands in repairs by calling an emergency air condition service provider to address the issue.
No (Or Little) Airflow
Generally, if the air conditioner isn’t blowing cool air or is only blowing a little amount of it during winter or when the outside temperatures are low, that shouldn’t be a cause for concern. However, a lack of cool airflow in your home during the summer should worry you. Essentially, that is the work of an air conditioning unit. If it cannot blow cold air, the temperatures will start soaring up, and your Fort Worth, TX home will quickly become uncomfortable. You don’t want this if you have senior citizens, toddlers, or other vulnerable people with some illness.
In some good instances, if your air conditioner is running but isn’t blowing enough cold air, that is a sign that the filter might be clogged. A dirty air filter can also have a toll on the compressor. Clogged air filters prevent the flow of air. For this reason, it is necessary to clean or change the filters regularly. Emergency heating and AC repair service providers recommend this be done every 2-3 months.
It might also happen that even after replacing the air filter, the problem does not go away. In such a case, you should enlist the help of an emergency heating and AC repair service provider to inspect the unit further and fix the problem. Never tinker with the HVAC system trying to fix an issue yourself. Doing this will expose you to electrocution, electrical shocks, voiding the warranty, or even damaging the unit further. The last thing you want is a heat wave while tinkering around with the unit.
Uncharacteristic Smells from the AC Unit
Whenever the air conditioning system is working efficiently, the air produced shouldn’t have any smell. However, if you suddenly start noticing a musty or moldy smell, water accumulates in the condensate drains or air ducts. This is a problem that routine emergency heating and AC repair service should fix. The professional will offer you duct & drain cleaning services to ensure that they are clear and air or condensate can flow seamlessly.
However, if the smell from the vents starts getting stronger or fouler, then there is a serious issue within the ducts. This particularly holds whenever you start noticing a burning smell. This signifies that the unit overheating is a particularly serious hazard. Whenever you notice a burning smell emanating from the air conditioner, power it off and immediately contact an emergency heating and AC repair service provider. The professional will fix the issue before it turns catastrophic.
The other emergency is whenever you start noticing a skunky or sulfur smell from the vents, particularly If your unit uses natural gasses. This is an extremely dangerous situation. Hence, turn off the AC, open the doors and windows, and call an emergency heating and AC repair service provider in Fort Worth, TX. Have you noticed an extremely sweet smell emanating from the AC system? That is a surefire sign of a refrigerant leak. Refrigerants are toxic, and that might prove a health hazard. Therefore, in this case, the only solution you have is to power off the air conditioner and urgently call an air conditioner service provider.
Using Common Sense
Trusting your judgment can, in most instances, be on point whenever you try to figure out if the AC malfunction can be deemed an emergency or shouldn’t. It all comes down to your decision whether an issue needs an emergency heating and AC repair service or not. Suppose the air conditioner is leaking and experiencing electrical issues, or you have immunocompromised inhabitants in your Fort Worth, TX, home, senior citizen, and toddlers. In that case, it only makes sense to have an emergency heating and AC repair service.
Prompt & Professional Emergency Heating and Air Conditioning Repair Service
Air conditioning emergencies might result in serious damage and injuries. Hence, they should be handled with the urgency they so demand. As you have seen above, there are several contributors to emergency air conditioning issues. Hence, you must be alert to those issues to ensure they don’t cause irreparable damage. Do you need an emergency heating and AC repair service? Call our reliable and licensed technicians at One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth.
