Serving San Antonio and the surrounding area since 1993
Daniel was very professional and polite. He was thorough in his work.
- Longoria, San Antonio
It’s a hot summer day, and your air conditioner seems to be losing some of its cooling power. You go to check out the unit to see if anything is wrong, and you see ice on the evaporator coil. “Oh!” you might think, “Well my air conditioner must be working if I see ice. After all, it’s a sign the air conditioner is cooling.”
This is a misconception. Ice on the evaporator coil is not okay, and is a sign you need AC repairs sooner rather than later.
We get it, when something is amiss with your air conditioner, it probably seems far easier—not to mention, cheaper—to hop online and find a “how-to” video to solve the problem on your own. This can be a mistake for a number of reasons, however.
First off, it takes a trained and experienced professional to accurately diagnose a Bulverde, TX air conditioning issue. Additionally, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could end up damaging other components of your air conditioner and make the problem worse. Lastly, you might injure yourself or expose yourself to potentially harmful substances, like refrigerant.
Keep reading to learn more about 3 common AC issues people try to solve on their own, but should really leave to the pros!
It goes without saying that summers in Texas are HOT, particularly in our area. Even worse than the soaring temperatures are the increasing humidity levels that can turn our homes into unwelcome steam rooms. Your air conditioner does have some dehumidification properties. However, it isn’t built to effectively lower the humidity to an acceptable level.
In turn, humidity can, in fact, hurt your air conditioner, and also leave your home feeling muggy and uncomfortable. That’s the bad news. The good news, however, is that our New Braunfels, TX, HVAC professionals have a way for you to deal with it: the installation of a whole-house dehumidifier.
Over years of consistent use, there are a variety of issues that can arise with your cooling system. This is particularly true in our part of the state! You might find yourself facing a refrigerant leak, failed capacitor, or potentially even breached ductwork. Fortunately, many of these San Antonio, TX air conditioning repair needs are actually preventable, especially if you stay on top of your annual maintenance appointments (or biannual, if you have a heat pump).
There’s one repair need, in particular, that is a pain to face—and that is a broken down or damaged compressor. With most air conditioner components, replacement is typically the best option upon breakdown. But a broken down compressor is another story, and often it leads to the question of if you should repair the system by replacing the compressor, or replace the entire air conditioner. The latter is naturally not always the preferred choice, but might be the best choice. Why is that? Read on…
When is the last time you had an oil change on your car? A tire rotation?
When is the last time you had an air conditioning tune-up in San Antonio?
Chances are, you were able to answer the questions about your car pretty quickly, but the AC question may have you going, “Ummmm… about that.” We get it.
But the fact of the matter is, you can’t afford to go without it. That being said, if you didn’t schedule maintenance yet for this summer season, it’s not too late!
With summer “officially” here in just a few short days, you’re likely focused on a number of things for your business, ensuring that your customers, employees, and/or tenants are happy, and making sure that your commercial space is comfortable.
Wait, what’s that? You haven’t thought about that last point? True, it’s not usually something on the top of the mind for any business owner or manager. However, it’s important! An uncomfortable commercial space can lead to a variety of problems, not the least of which is a major business interruption.
There are many factors that go into creating a comfortable commercial environment, with one of the biggest being how effectively and efficiently your commercial air conditioning in San Antonio operates. Whether you were already thinking about replacing your commercial AC system, or you’re wondering what your AC system options are, you’d do well to consider rooftop units.
Considering where we live, chances are that you think a lot about your air conditioner. Naturally, you want it to function as effectively and efficiently as possible. What most homeowners don’t think about in this regard is the “V” part of HVAC—their ventilation, which connects the air conditioner to the outside and makes the distribution of cooled air possible. This ventilation system, known as your ductwork, is usually out of sight for the most part—hidden behind walls, in your attic and crawlspace, and even maybe beneath flooring.
Unfortunately, if this ductwork was installed by an inexperienced technician, or if you did it as a “DIY” project without the right training and expertise, or if your ductwork is getting older, there’s a fair chance that it’s accumulated damage over the years. And if your ductwork is affected by leaks, any poor connections, or improper construction, then you may be experiencing problems that lead to poor HVAC efficiency and soon enough, San Antonio duct repair needs. One of the most common issues that lead to ductwork damage is the fact that those ducts weren’t properly sized upon installation.
HVAC professionals get one question in particular pretty often, and it makes us shake our heads in disappointment, because we know you’re being fooled by an amateur or dishonest “service professional.” That question is: “how often does my refrigerant need refilling?” Our answer is, “hopefully never!”
It is, unfortunately, a common myth among homeowners that refrigerant is something that runs out over time, like gasoline in a car. However, this isn’t the case with refrigerant. Upon installation, your HVAC system is supplied with enough of this important fluid to ideally last throughout its entire lifespan. Refrigerant continuously cycles through the air conditioner or heat pump, and effectively transfers heat to bring you a comfortable indoor climate.
One of the best ways, if not the best way to prevent air conditioning repair San Antonio needs is to schedule routine preventive maintenance before your cooling system’s heaviest period of use. So that means you’ve hopefully already had your tune-up performed this year. Without regular maintenance, you may find yourself facing any number of potential cooling system malfunctions, which we’ll cover below. The result of such malfunctions can be anything from low airflow or a noisy system to an AC that doesn’t actually cool—its only job!
As the weather already begins to trend toward summer temperatures and we get ready to switch our thermostats into AC mode full time, you may not notice anything amiss with your San Antonio air conditioning system right away, if there is something wrong. But if you skipped maintenance, or if you’ve neglected an AC repair you know is necessary, can you rely on your system to get you through the coming months?
Midsummer cooling system repairs are a hassle, with breakdowns of course being an even bigger one. You’ll likely have to stop what you’re doing or potentially even cancel plans to call in a professional technician at one of the busiest times of year for HVAC contractors. If you can prevent that, wouldn’t you? Fortunately, there is a way!
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