Dubai’s summer and its scorching heat need no introduction and how unbearable they can be. Nobody likes a hot and humid home. Hence, the air conditioner should be well maintained and working fine. Unfortunately, accidents can happen, and your AC might suffer from a broken motor, worn-out compressor, or, more alarming, a refrigerant leak.
Mostly, air conditioners use R-22 as a refrigerant which is made from Freon, a noble gas. Your air conditioner’s refrigerator can’t be all used up unless it finds a way to escape due to leakage. Daily wear and tear and foreign object interference can cause the refrigerant to leak out of its pipes.
Regular preventive maintenance can prevent your AC’s refrigerant from escaping or leaking. However, how can you tell whether your AC requires a refrigerant refill? Let’s learn all the signs that keep alerting you about low refrigerant.
Additionally, you have to take immediate action regarding a refrigerant leakage because it’s not good for your AC as well as your health.
What are the Signs to Confirm that Your Air Conditioner needs more Refrigerant?
There’s no way the AC refrigerant can escape from the insulated pipes unless it’s a leak, you already know that. Numerous old air conditioners are more prone to refrigerant leaks. Fixing a refrigerant leak requires competent treatment along with refilling the Freon or R-22 gas.
Fortunately, clear indications can help you understand a refrigerant leak in your air conditioner. Let’s check them out:
- Your AC Barely Cools Down Your Home
Are you feeling warm air blowing out of the air conditioner? Is your air conditioner running the entire day, but you can’t feel enough cooling around your home? The airflow might feel warmer than it should be.
This is called uneven cooling, which occurs if you have unserviced ducted AC in your apartment or villa. If you find the air is not so cool, your AC might need more refrigerant. The air conditioner might fail to absorb heat due to insufficient refrigerant.
- A surge in electricity Utility Bills
Since your home doesn’t feel cool and comfortable, you might be forced to keep the air conditioner running all day. This will result in soaring electricity consumption, no doubt. The thermostat will notice that the air conditioner can’t cool your home, and it will instruct the AC to work harder and longer.
If you notice a sudden spike in the electricity utility bill, it can detect a refrigerant leak. However, a refrigerant leak isn’t the only reason for sky-high electricity bills. Check out if the vents are clogged or blocked. To ensure whether your AC requires more refrigerant, you have to wait and check a few more signs.
What are the other AC Issues that can Hike Your Electricity Bills?
Different air conditioner problems can be associated with an increase in electricity bills. Refrigerant leak alone might not contribute to the spike in the electricity bills.
Here are other efficiency issues that might force your AC to consume more energy than required:
- An aged air conditioning unit will use up more electricity. Your air conditioner is more likely to consume more electricity if aged 10+ years. The system has become less efficient, so it has to work longer.
- The air conditioner’s dirty air filter is an alarming cause behind surged electricity bills. The clogged air filters don’t allow the airflow to flow smoothly, and the thermostat can’t sense the actual cooling. Therefore, the thermostat makes the AC run more, resulting in high energy bills.
- Your air conditioner might be bigger or smaller than your home’s requirements. Thus, the system will turn on and off time and again repeatedly if you have a much bigger system than necessary. On the other hand, the smaller air conditioner has to work all the time to cool your house. Whatever the instance is, both can lead to higher energy consumption.
- Ice Formation on Refrigerant Line
The evaporator coils cool down more and more whenever your air conditioner has to work harder. The refrigerant starts flowing back into the system, reducing the temperature inside the air conditioning unit.
The condensed water vapour tends to freeze at such a low temperature. You might come across ice buildup on the refrigerant line. However, dirty air filters and closed vents can also trigger ice buildup on your air conditioner’s refrigerant line. You should hire an AC repair expert if you notice ice buildup on your refrigerant line.
- Hissing or Strange Noise from the Refrigerant Line
Mostly, refrigerant leaks are silent as they can be small. Yet, a large refrigerant leak can be audible as the leak might release a hissing or bubbling sound. They can be noticed easily if you inspect your air conditioner regularly.
Therefore, you can look for a hissing or bubbling noise to investigate whether your AC has a refrigerant leak. On a contrary note, you can hear a hissing refrigerant line only if it leaks and the air conditioner is running.
- Supply Vents throw out warm Air
If your air conditioner’s refrigerant is low, it can’t absorb much heat. Consequently, you can feel warm air from vents if a ducted AC is installed.
Low refrigerant levels can reduce the efficiency of the air conditioner, and the appliance will absorb less heat with every cooling cycle. Experiencing warm air blowing out from vents and the above-mentioned signs detect a refrigerant leak on your AC.
What to do When Your Air Conditioner Leaks Refrigerant?
It’s definitely a refrigerant leak from your air conditioner if you notice the above-mentioned signs. You should call in an expert to handle the matter. However, a refrigerant leak doesn’t only need a refill but also proper servicing. This will ensure that you won’t encounter another refrigerant leak shortly.
Only refilling the refrigerant chamber won’t fix the issue. After a few days, you will manifest the same issue if the leakage is ignored. Hence, you should insist on an expert to repair the leak if the professional recommends only a refill.
An AC repair technician will fix a refrigerant leak in the following steps:
- Removal or evacuating of the entire refrigerant from the air conditioning system
- Locating the leak and repairing it
- Checking whether the fix can endure regular wear and tear
- Refilling the AC refrigerant up to the right quantity
Therefore, contact a leading AC repair service provider if you notice any of the symptoms of a refrigerant leak or other AC issues.
What to prevent AC Refrigerant Leak?
Refrigerant leaks are inevitable in ageing air conditioning units. However, lack of maintenance can also trigger leaks in the refrigerant pipes. Ants, wasps, and bees can build nests inside AC units, and the formaldehyde released by them can harm your air conditioner.
The formaldehyde can easily turn into formic acid after a couple of reactions, leading to refrigerant pipes’ corrosion. Regular aircon maintenance will keep your system clean inside out and eliminate refrigerant leaks. You should hire AC maintenance experts for hassle-free well-being.
