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Air Conditioner Refrigerant Leaks: Signs To Watch For

29 June 2020

Abbie Wade

With peak summer temperatures yet to arrive, your air conditioner hasn't yet been fully tested for the season yet. What you may not realize, however, is that your air conditioner could already be giving you signs that it isn't fully equipped for those peak-season temperatures to arrive. If your air conditioner is low on refrigerant, it's likely already showing you subtle, quiet signs of this potential impending failure. Here's what you should watch for that could tell you that your air conditioner has a refrigerant leak.

Slow Cooling Cycle

You probably know your air conditioner pretty well at this point, including knowing how long it takes the air conditioner to cool down your home. If you notice that it's taking markedly longer than it used to for your home to cool down, that's a sign that your air conditioner may be low on refrigerant and struggling to cool your home.

Poor Temperature Maintenance

When an air conditioning system is running like it's supposed to, the cooling system maintains a consistent temperature in your home once your programmed temperature is reached. However, when the air conditioner is low on refrigerant, it won't be able to maintain that temperature as effectively. As a result, you may notice significant temperature swings in your home.

Significant Utility Bills

If, since you turned on your air conditioner for the season, you've noticed drastic increases in your utility bills, that's often because your air conditioning unit is low on refrigerant and having to work overtime to cool your home. This translates to increased utility costs due to the excessive run time of your air conditioner.

The thing to remember is that you always see some degree of utility bill increase when you run your air conditioner. However, if you can compare your current month's bill to the same month last year, you'll be able to see if it is running as efficiently as it did last year or if it seems to be consuming more electricity.

Not Cooling

As the refrigerant level drops, the cooling power of your air conditioner is reduced as well. Eventually, if you don't address the early signs above, you'll find yourself with no cool air from your air conditioner at all. When the refrigerant level drops too low, the system can't cool the air at all, so you get no cooling benefit from the unit.

You'll need an air conditioning repair technician to determine the source of your refrigerant loss, repair it, and then recharge the system for you. Call an AC repair technician near you today.

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