Dealing With Frozen AC Evaporator Coils
The evaporator unit in your residential AC unit can get so cold that it freezes the water vapor in the air in your home. On a hot summer day, you might think this sounds pretty good. The problem is that as more and more water vapor freezes onto the coils, it can block airflow, which means that no cool air will actually make it into your home. Thus, if you ever find ice on your evaporator coils, you need to know what you need to do about it.
What Causes Ice to Form?
An evaporator unit is not supposed to get so cold that it freezes water vapor. Instead, the warm air from your home is designed to balance out the cold generated by the evaporator unit so that you never have to worry about ice building up on the coils. However, if there is not enough air moving over the coils, they can get so cold that ice starts to form. Two main culprits can account for the lack of airflow:
- Your air filter can get so clogged with dust that it doesn't allow any air through.
- Your evaporator fan can stop working.
What to Do When Ice Forms
If you find ice on your evaporator unit, you need to act quickly in order to get your AC working properly again. Your first step should be to check your air filter and replace it as needed. Next, you should try to melt the ice off of your coils. To do this, you will need to turn your AC unit off at the thermostat, put buckets and/or towels under the evaporator unit, and wait for it to melt. If you get impatient, do not hack at the coils in an attempt to chip the ice away. The fins the coils are made from are quite fragile and if punctured can leak coolant. Thus, if you need to accelerate the process, use a hair dryer to melt the ice more quickly. If changing the air filter and melting off the ice does not stop ice from forming again, you will need to call an AC technician, such as those found at Daniel's Heating Air & Plumbing Inc, to help you discover what the problem is.
Ice on your evaporator coils should not be seen as a sign that you AC unit is working exceptionally well. Instead, it is a sign that you need to act quickly to get your unit up and running so that you don't have to deal with the heat any longer than is absolutely necessary.