When Your Air Conditioner Looks Like A Snowman

Air conditioners are meant to make your house cold. They, themselves, are not meant to accumulate ice and start looking like a snowman! If you have started to see some ice buildup on your AC unit, that means something is not quite right. Some of the common problems that lead to ice buildup are easy to fix on your own, and others need to be handled by an HVAC company. Take a look. 

Landscaping around the air conditioner

Sometimes homeowners plant bushes and flowers around their air conditioner in an effort to hide it. You may have meant well in doing this, but the landscaping does more harm than good by restricting airflow to the AC unit. The restriction, in turn, can cause the AC unit to super-cool and accumulate ice. Try trimming those bushes back or even removing them completely. A good rule of thumb is that if you can't fit between the air conditioner and the plant, you're too close.

An old, clogged air filter

Air filters are essential as they are meant to trap dirt and debris from coming through the ductwork. But if too much dirt accumulates in the air filter, the AC unit won't be able to push air through it, which will cause pressure to build up and the air conditioner itself to get icy. All you have to do to fix this is change the air filter. Then, you want to be better about changing the air filter on a regular basis, going forward. If you have pets, you can benefit from changing it monthly. Otherwise, changing it every two months is adequate.

Blockages in the ducts

If you don't have landscaping around your unit and changing your filter doesn't cause the AC unit to thaw out, then it's time to call an HVAC company. The next likely culprit is a blockage in the ducts themselves. This would have a similar effect to a blockage in the air filter. Blockages can be birds' nests, toys, or sometimes even clumps of dirt and hair. An HVAC company will have the equipment to locate the blockage and then remove it. 

Your air conditioner should not look like a snowman, and if it does, then something is wrong. Consider the possible causes above, and work to address them — or call your HVAC company to do so. An air conditioner needs to be thawed out in order to work well.

Reach out to a company like American Services to learn more.


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