4 Reasons Your Air Conditioning Is Running Constantly


Even on the hottest day, your air conditioner should not run constantly. It should turn on and off throughout the day to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home. There are a few reasons why your air conditioner may always be running.

Reason #1: Type of Air Conditioner Unit

First, your air conditioner may be running more because of the type of system that you have. If you have a variable-speed unit instead of a single-speed unit, your unit will seem like it is running more often. A variable-speed unit is designed to run at a low power setting to keep your home at a consistent temperature, all while using less energy than a single-speed unit that will turn off and on throughout the day to maintain the temperature. Learn about what type of air conditioning unit you have before you start to worry about how often it is running.

Reason #2: Unit Is Too Small

Second, your air conditioner unit must meet your home's size and layout. If your unit doesn't have enough cooling capacity to meet the needs of your home's structure and size, your unit is going to have a hard time keeping your home cool.

This can cause the unit to run at full power all the time in an effort to bring your home down to the right temperature.

If your unit is too small, you will want to upgrade to a larger unit that will be able to meet the needs of your home.

Reason #3: Dirt Build-Up

Third, your unit could be dirty and in need of maintenance. During a yearly check-up on your unit, all the important parts, such as the evaporator coils and condenser coils, are cleaned. If you skip the annual maintenance check-up and don't take care of cleaning your unit on your own, your unit will start underperforming. This can cause issues with the cooling process and cause your unit to continue to run. You need to get a technician in to clean and check up on your unit.

Reason #4: Dirty Filter

Fourth, the air filter on your unit plays a really important role in keeping things running smoothly. When the filter gets dirty, your unit can start to act up, and it will keep running to pull in enough air and cool off your home. However, with a dirty filter, it will never be able to pull in enough clean air, resulting in your unit working harder than it needs to.

Reason #5: Leaking Refrigerant

Finally, if your unit is constantly running, but at the same time, is not really pushing out cool air, the issue may be leaking refrigerant. Refrigerant should not leak out from the unit. When it does, it takes away your unit's cooling powers, which can cause the unit to run constantly as it strains to cool off your home. To repair your unit, the leak needs to be found, cleaned up, and sealed, and more refrigerant needs to be added to your system.

If your air conditioning unit is constantly running, it may just be how it is designed. Or it may require some maintenance and cleaning of the filter, evaporator coils, and condenser coils. Or it may need to have a refrigerant leak repaired, or you may need to upgrade the size of your unit. A trained HVAC technician can let you know what is going on and how to fix it.

For more information, contact air conditioning repair services in your area.

About Me

cool and hot areas of the home

I live in an older home that we are working to renovate. There are three areas of the house that just don't seem to get cool in the summer or get warm in the winter. I have done all that I can to try to keep these areas comfortable, but I wasn't able to do much until I hired an HVAC technician to come out and figure out why those areas were so uncomfortable. This blog will show you what can be causing areas of your home to be less comfortable than other areas when it comes to temperature during both winter and summer.