Don’t Settle For Your AC Blowing Hot Air

Things can get pretty hot in North Dakota when the summer finally arrives. Long days are accompanied by hot nights that can even feel a bit humid.

When things get like that, it can be difficult to feel comfortable or even get a good night’s sleep, but that’s why we have air conditioners.

But it’s when those air conditioners stop working properly that things need to get addressed quickly. Your AC is supposed to cool air in the condenser unit outside your home and then send that cold air to your furnace to be pumped throughout the house.

If hot air is coming through instead, there could be a few reasons for that.

Your Breaker or Fuse Is Out

If you’re feeling hot air coming into your home during the summer, this means your furnace is fine.

The fan in your furnace works both during the winter to circulate warm air, and during the summer to pump that cold air through your home.

However, it’s supposed to get cold air from your condenser. If you check your condenser and the fan isn’t spinning, this means that it’s probably no longer getting electricity to operate.

If you’ve had a power surge recently, check your circuit breaker and see if you need to reset the switch for your AC. Or, your particular model of AC may have its own fuses, which means you should replace them.

Your Condenser Is Frozen

When your AC is blowing warm air, the condenser should always be one of your stops to check on the condition of your cooling system.

But don’t be surprised if you inspect it and find that it’s turned into an ice cube.

This is not that uncommon a problem.

Unfortunately, all that ice on your condenser means that cool air is being correctly produced, but it’s not moving from the condenser down to your furnace, where it should be ventilated.

Instead, it’s staying outside, where it does you no good.

There could be an air flow blockage preventing the cool air from moving, or some mechanical defect.

Refrigerant Leaks

An air conditioner operates primarily due to chemicals called refrigerants. These chemicals have an amazing physical property; when they change states from liquid to gas, they absorb heat, leaving only cold air afterward.

Air conditioners use this property, constantly converting refrigerants from liquid to gas and back again.

It doesn’t burn up, it’s just constantly changing states, so you don’t have to worry about “refilling” your AC with it under normal circumstances.

If components in your AC that store refrigerants are pierced, and you start leaking refrigerant, this effectively nullifies your AC’s ability to cool things down until you get more.

Replacing refrigerant however, can be a technical, elaborate process and is best left to certified experts.