What to do With a Frozen AC Coil

By: Paul Smith  |  August 3, 2023

When you may have a frozen coil, take these necessary steps…

As the warmth of summer time accelerates, so do frequent air-con repairs. Indiana summers can imply your system working in opposition to 90 diploma climate. Such a climate has a knack for exhibiting the issues inside a system shortly resulting in pricey ac repairs. One of many extra distressing issues that comes up is a frozen Evaporator Coil.

Reminder: what’s the Evaporator Coil?

The Evaporator Coil is a part of your indoor unit, discovered adjoining to the furnace. It contains coils (very like your out of doors unit) that assist regulate the temperature of your property. Refrigerant passes by way of these coils to create cool air whereas the out of doors unit transfers warmth. The fan within the furnace then pushes this cool air all through your property. This makes the Evaporator Coil an necessary a part of your system. Nonetheless, many individuals overlook it as it isn’t as seen because the out of doors unit. Study extra concerning the Evaporator Coil and different heating and cooling fundamentals in our HVAC 101.

Why do evaporator coils freeze?

As air conditioners age, one of the frequent signs we see throughout Indianapolis is a frozen coil. There are a couple of cause it’d occur. Something that reduces the system’s airflow (for instance, a clogged filter), may cause it. Many occasions it occurs due to low refrigerant ranges brought on by a leak within the system. No matter is the catalyst, the actual concern is that the refrigerant circulating by way of the coil can’t extract sufficient warmth. This pushes the refrigerant beneath freezing. As water continues to condense on these below-freezing coils, it then freezes into ice on the floor.

Because the coil primarily turns into a big block of ice, technicians are very restricted in what they will do to diagnose and restore.  As long as the coil stays frozen, not a lot could be accomplished to repair it. That’s why we advocate house house owners permit the coil to thaw first earlier than having a technician come out.

As a result of the frozen coil can accumulate an excellent quantity of ice, it produces loads of water when it thaws. The dangers of that water thawing and adversely impacting {the electrical} parts of your system are vital. Comply with the steps we define beneath to make sure that any water injury in your system is minimized.

We advocate following the steps above when thawing the coil.

4 Steps to Thaw a Frozen Coil

1) Flip thermostat Cool setting to OFF.

2) Go away or set the thermostat Fan setting to ON.

3) Place outdated towel close to system to make sure water doesn’t go to undesirable areas. Examine periodically to mop up any standing water or exchange the towel with a dry one.

4) Monitor progress, then name Homesense when the frozen coil has thawed. This course of might take as much as 24 hours.

Seeing a frozen coil could be scary at first, however there are answers that may get it again to operating easily. By way of the steps above, adopted by a go to from a trusted Homesense technician, your system can be again to protecting you cool shortly! And for extra assistance on all issues AC restore, take a look at our AC Restore and Substitute Information.