Can I Fix My Own AC?
Most of the year in Houston, your AC is hard at work keeping your home cool and comfortable. The more it runs, the more prone it is to needing repairs. When it breaks down and your house starts feeling hot and uncomfortable, you may be tempted to try to fix it yourself.
According to House Pro, that’s the last thing you should do since these machines require expert training and specialized tools to repair. You may wind up causing more damage or become injured in the process.
However, before you call a professional AC repair service, there are a few things you can check to make sure it isn’t something simple that’s causing the issue.
Look at Your Thermostat
Sometimes, the simplest things are the cause of your AC problems. You will want to make sure your thermostat is set to cool. It’s possible someone may have changed the temperature and forgot to set it back, or they could have accidentally set it to heating instead of cooling. Simply putting it on the right setting could solve your AC problems.
Check the Air Filter
Air filters should be changed often, usually every one to three months. If your AC is cooling unevenly, the airflow is low, or the circuit breakers are tripping, this may be the underlying cause. If it’s been a while since you’ve changed the filter, all the dust could be blocking the airflow. See if changing your dirty filter gets things going again.
Check Your Circuit Breakers
Your circuit breakers are another place to look. Head to your electrical panel and look for tripped breakers. Temporary overloads from the AC may cause a breaker to trip. You can reset the breaker and see if your AC turns on. If it does and keeps on going, then you can breathe a sigh of relief. If the breaker trips again though, don’t wait to call a professional to fix it.
Open Room Vents
Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t help save you energy to close room vents. In fact, it can cause pressure in your AC that can lead to damage. Make sure all the vents in your rooms are open and nothing is in their way.
Check the Outside Unit
If your AC seems to have low cooling power, there may be too much debris on the outside portion of the unit. With regular maintenance, this can be avoided in most cases. But if your unit frequently gets debris thrown onto it, it may not be able to work properly.
The condenser in that cabinet needs to release heat to the outside or else it will not be able to absorb heat from the inside.
Whether you were able to determine the cause from these basic tests or it’s still unclear as to why your AC unit isn’t working, you will need a professional. Don’t wait to get one on the job to get your home cool and comfortable again!