Why is My AC Icing Up?

What’s up y’all and welcome to the HVAC dope show today’s video is probably going to be the dopiest video we have ever made.

Now if you are finding yourself googling why is my AC icing up you are probably one of two things either a homeowner or a total HVAC new. Just kidding but seriously no worries this is a very common problem which is why we’ve made a video about it so you can figure out how to fix your ac, shake off that ice and get back to enjoying a nice comfortable home.

Now before we get started if you haven’t already make sure you smash that like button and subscribe to our channel so that we can keep bringing you updated content to keep you comfy year-round.

So what exactly causes an air conditioning to ice does it have too much refrigerant, not enough refrigerant a bad flux capacitor?

The short answer is probably none of those things so before you start throwing parts at the situation and trying to repair it you should start with some basic one oh one fixes that can stop your AC from icing up.

Now the most common cause of ACs icing up is actually related to airflow. in case you are unfamiliar with how air conditioning works we’re going to give you a basic breakdown of thermodynamics and 30 seconds or less.

What is thermodynamics great question is thermodynamics and short is heat transfer by the state change. What this means is that when a substance changes from liquid to gas or gas to solid there is a transfer of heat in or out of the substance causing it to change state. In layman‘s terms if your water gets super cold bro it’s going to turn ice Homie. That’s right your ice is just frozen water. Word 30 seconds or less boom.

Still confused don’t worry I’ll break it down for you. My point is that what is happening in a refrigeration circuit is that your air conditioner is not actually blowing cold air but instead what it is doing is absorbing heat into the refrigerant and sending the hot refrigerant outside to the condenser to remove the heat from the home through the liquid refrigerant that is inside your air conditioning system. And the point in me bringing all of this up is that if you do not have enough airflow what happens is your refrigerant cannot absorb enough heat and therefore causes condensation in the living space to ice over your system because water freezes yo.

So that being said let’s take a look at the number one reason why your AC is icing up and that is a dirty filter. Now some of you will stop watching this video right now and run to go check your filter because you’re like oh yeah my wife kill me when she realizes I haven’t change the filter in six years and you would probably be right in doing so because this is literally the most common cause of issues and anytime you call our office in the summer the first thing we will ask you is have you changed your air filter. And although this might sound super simple and like there’s no way your filter could be the problem if your indoor air coil is not getting enough airflow it will do exactly what we just talked about and the temperature will drop below freezing causing your air conditioner to turn into a brick of ice.

Numero dose or number two for you English speakers. And that is a dirty condenser a.k.a. the box that sits outside your house and the thing that most people think of when they think of an air conditioner. The way to tell if your condenser is dirty as by bending over and looking down at the outside of the unit because what can happen as pollen dirt dog hair leaves etc. etc. can clog the sides of the condenser which again reduces airflow affecting your temperatures and pressures so that the system can’t properly remove heat from your home and this will also cause the system to ice up. So in short go outside check your condenser and make sure it is clean. And if it does need to be clean the simple way to clean it is holding a garden hose at normal pressure whatever you do do not use a pressure washer as this will damage the AC just a normal garden hose with a regular nozzle, and spray off all the dirt in filth clogging the side of your condenser.

Number three make sure all of your vents are open. One of the most common causes of systems icing up is when customers are faced with an uncomfortable upstairs and get the bright idea to go shut all the vents in the home except for the two vents in the room that they are trying to divert air to and this is a big fat no-no. What this is doing is essentially the same thing as a dirty filter and is restricting airflow so that the refrigerant inside your system cannot absorb enough heat and therefore causing the entire system to ice up. The remedy is to open up all of the vents in the house and I mean all of them yes even the ones in the basement and if you absolutely must close one or two of the vents OK whatever will let it slide but your system was designed to have all the vents open when it is running. If you are saying yeah but Howard now it’s going to be cold downstairs and hot upstairs I understand but I have a solution for you so stay tuned because we’re going to fix that issue for you as well.

And the way that you fix this is simply by setting your thermostat fan to the on mode meaning that it runs constantly, Instead of intermittently like it does when it is running in an auto mode. Now you may be thinking that this is going to jack up your energy bill from the fan running constantly but that is not the case as your fan does not consume as much energy as you think and is actually quite efficient. The fan running will however solve a very important problem which is that when the thermostat has satisfied the temperature on the main level it may still be hot in other parts of the home and by having the fan circulate air constantly even when the air conditioner shuts off and has satisfied temperature it will continue to circulate air through the home which will give you a more even temperature distribution.

And if suddenly you find your home is now comfortable you’re welcome now please subscribe and make sure you smash that like button if you haven’t done so already.

And the fourth and final thing that I will touch on that is something to consider is that if you have had chronic Ising problems in your system has never kept up and always iced over on the hottest days, even with a clean filter all the vents open and a clean condenser outside, then you very well may have a system that is too big for the house and or too big for the ductwork. Sometimes people think that bigger is better when it comes to air conditioner sizing but that is not the case. When you are sizing your air conditioner you want Goldilocks status and that means just right. Too small and it won’t keep up and if it’s too big it will ice up and therefore not cool properly which is why you are stuck with an iced-over AC.

And although there are several other items that can cause your system to ice up we’re not going to touch on those in this video only briefly because those are items that an HVAC technician will be able to diagnose and require special tools and these are conditions such as refrigerant overcharge, or under charge, or some sort of restriction in the line and if you do not have the proper refrigeration tools to be able to diagnosis it is not worth going over here which is why you should have a seasoned technician come out to your house to look at the system. It can also be something like a bad contactor or a bad capacitor but if your fan and compressor are turning on it is definitely not those things, so don’t start changing parts out trying to fix the problem and get a professional to diagnose it. If your Vents are all open and the first three items we discussed are all addressed (meaning go check your filter and go clean your condenser) then what may be left is to have a professional come out to your house to diagnose it.

If your system is brand-new and it is icing up it can be something as simple as an oversized system In this case you just need to put in the right sized system that the ductwork can handle and after that, your system should be working as designed.

Hopefully, you found this information helpful and hopefully it was just as simple as a dirty filter or some closed air vents. And if you’re still in need of assistance and happen to live in the Denver metro area give us a call because remember The Bee Heat & AC is the only company in Denver that comes out for free for all first time customers so we can tell you exactly what is causing your system to ice up and if you’ve never used us before the service call is on us you’re welcome. And lastly, if you found this information helpful please smash that like button and subscribe to our channel so we can continue bringing you more dope videos. That’s it, keeping it dope here on the HVAC dope show, signing off.