If your air conditioner is leaking refrigerant, then chances are you’ve already spotted one of the many telltale signs. It could be making the signature bubbling and hissing noise, or it could be operating sub-par in a variety of different ways. The truth is that a refrigerant leak is going to translate differently for every air conditioner and every home. The good news is that this blog post is going to be able to help steer those homeowners who are a little lost in the right direction.
Keep reading to learn about how to pinpoint a refrigerant leak and access proper air conditioning repair in Melbourne, FL. Or, you could call our hotline listed above and get in touch with one of our customer service representatives. Talking to a pro in person is going to be easier if you feel like you have a more unique situation than listed below.
5 Ways to Detect a Refrigerant Leak
A refrigerant leak is kind of like a pesky critter. It only rears its head when you’re actively looking for it, or when you know what to look for. Otherwise seeing the problems that come from a refrigerant leak can often feel like someone is playing a sick prank on you. Let’s talk about five distinct ways to detect a refrigerant leak and how you can better prepare.
- Hissing and bubbling. The hissing or bubbling sound is a classic noise that’s often associated with refrigerant leaks. This is the noise of either oxygen entering the liquid refrigerant line and causing bubbles to form, or it’s the sound of gaseous refrigerant escaping and hissing as it goes.
- Poor temperature control. How is your air conditioner supposed to competently cool your home if it doesn’t have the proper amount of refrigerant to do the job? One of the primary telltale signs that refrigerant is leaking from your air conditioner is the fact that it can’t cool your home to the setting on your thermostat.
- Low energy efficiency. Without the proper amount of refrigerant in your air conditioner, you’re going to see a major drop in efficiency. This means that your air conditioner will consume more electricity to run a full cycle, and your energy bills will increase each month.
- Lukewarm air. Without enough refrigerant to cool the air in your home, you might feel lukewarm temperatures coming from your air vents.
- A “sweet” smell and breathing problems. This one is a little trickier to notice, but it’s one we definitely should mention. Refrigerant isn’t dangerous to inhale, it just might give off a “sweet, chloro-form-like” scent that is easy to notice. Where refrigerant can get dangerous is when it starts pushing the oxygen out of your home. Since refrigerant is denser than air, it will push air out of the spaces in your home and cause breathing issues over time. If you’re encountering unsafe or unbreathable air in your home, then you need to shut your system off and call for help.
Call Complete Air & Heat, Inc. to get your refrigerant leak fixed. Making families happy on the Space Coast since 1975.