No Cool Air? A Frozen Coil May Be the Cause

Warmer weather will be here before you know it, and your air conditioner will be working hard to keep your home cool and comfortable. Over cooling season, you may run into a common air conditioner repair issue – a frozen coil.

Learn why air conditioning coils freeze up, their signs, and what to do to solve this problem and restore cooling to your home.

Why Do Air Conditioning Coils Freeze?

Air conditioners need good airflow moving through the equipment to keep coils warm and working correctly. When air isn’t freely moving across the evaporator coil, its temperature drops, leading to a frozen AC coil. A dirty air filter or restricted air movement in ducts could be preventing proper airflow.

Air conditioners require correct refrigerant levels to operate. When a refrigerant leak is present, refrigerant pressure drops while the system requires the same level of expansion. This creates a cooler temperature, dropping the coil temperature so it freezes.

All sorts of mechanical problems and other issues can cause an air conditioner’s coils to freeze. Moisture that is condensed by the cooling process freezes due to the coil’s low temperature before it can drain away, creating the ice you see on your cooling coils. This ice acts as an insulator, preventing the heat transfer that creates cooling.

Signs of a Frozen Air Conditioning Coil

If your air conditioning coils have frozen, you may experience the following symptoms:

• Air conditioner runs, but no cool air comes out in your home.

• There is visible ice on your indoor or outdoor coils.

• There is more condensation in your home or around your cooling unit, as frozen cooling coils create moisture buildup.