Common Air Conditioning Problems and How to Solve Them

The summer heat is upon us, and we all want to stay as cool as possible. No one wants a house that smells like hot, sweaty, icky stew or a bike ride that feels like you’re driving in a desert. This article will go through some of the most common air conditioning problems and how to solve them.

Table of Contents

Unable to adjust the Temperature

Some of us crank up the AC when we get home and crank it down when we leave. There are particular rules when it comes to how our AC should work.

A rule of thumb is that your house will stay cool during the day and then cool down at night. If you’ve never set your AC on this, you may wonder why you have to do it all over again in the morning. Your AC is cycling off and on, trying to reach the desired temperature. An easy fix is to leave it on all night.

Air conditioner not cooling

If your air conditioner isn’t working, check the electrical source in your house to see if it’s getting power. This is one of the most common problems when an AC unit doesn’t work or works improperly. If you’ve confirmed that the unit isn’t getting power, look at all of the electrical circuits in your house and any circuit breakers that might’ve tripped.

“Air Flow” issues

If your AC isn’t working and you hear a noise from the unit, the airflow may be a problem. If so, you’ll need to look at the coolant level. If it is low, there will be no airflow to suck air into the unit. The atmosphere cannot go through the unit and out of the vents if it is high. You can check this usually by going to a window while the AC is working and listening. The coolant level will be acceptable if you can hear an airflow. If not, there might be a reason to fill it up with coolant again.

Smell from air conditioner

If your house smells like hot stew and you’ve been running your AC for hours, check the drain tubes in your unit. Look around where they lead, as you may need to clean them out. A clogged drain tube can block the airflow through your unit. Sometimes, you’ll smell the hot stew smell too. This usually means that your drain tubes are getting dirty and need to be cleaned out so air can get to the unit.

Water dripping from air conditioner

Check the drain pipes and look at the coolant level if you hear water dripping from your unit. If your drain tubes are clogged, and it takes too long for the coolant to get up to the air conditioner, then some condensation will form on the air conditioner and drip into a puddle underneath it. This can be fixed easily by checking all your components and repairing them as needed.