What To Do If Your AC Is Freezing?

You may want your air conditioner to really chill your room in a short span of time. But, when it gets covered in ice or frost, you should definitely get alarmed. An AC unit that is freezing up is not a good sign. Also, it won’t cool your space properly which is not a terrific spot to be in during a typical Bay Area summer.

The worst thing is that if you don’t do something quickly, you could end up with major water damage in your ceiling and walls. Not to mention the expensive AC repair you would have to shell out for.

What Should You Do?

You should take a look at the indoor unit if you believe that the air conditioner is not cooling as it is supposed to. Check for frost or ice on the coils. If you see the unit freezing up, the first thing you need to do is turn it off. Do not turn up the thermostat temperature. Simply shut down the whole system.

The longer an air conditioner runs while freezing up, the more likely it is to permanently damage the compressor.

How Can You Unfreeze the Unit Safely?

You may want to remove the ice yourself if there is a lot of it on the coils, rather than waiting for the AC service technician to show up. Melting ice can easily damage your walls, floors, and ceiling depending on its location.

You need to know how to remove ice correctly if you are worried about water damage. This way you can prevent further harm to the equipment as well. However, it is important that you never use a sharp object, like an ice pick to chip away the ice. The coil fins on an AC unit are fragile and may break under the pressure.

Instead, you could try these techniques to effectively remove the ice.

• Turn on the system fan. Make sure you turn the thermostat to FAN setting so that the AC does not kick in. This method will take anywhere from 3 – 7 hours. This technique is not recommended if there is ice on the fan.
• You can always use a heavy duty blow dryer to effectively melt away the ice. This can be combined with the earlier technique to melt ice faster.
• You may have to use a wet vac if you think the melting condensate is dripping into the ducts or anywhere outside the drain pan. The last thing you want is water to enter the ducts causing mold.

While you are removing the ice, you might want to take a minute to check the condition of the air filter. One of the major reasons for an air conditioner to freeze up is a completely clogged air filter.

Your AC requires warm air to flow over the coils for it to function properly. Clogged air filters reduce this air flow considerably. This can cause the AC unit to freeze up. You could easily solve your problem by changing the air filters if you have a replaceable type. Or, you could just clean them.