{"id":847,"date":"2019-07-22T11:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T15:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trustcolliers.com\/blog\/?p=847"},"modified":"2019-07-17T15:23:55","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T19:23:55","slug":"ice-ac-no-shouldnt-be-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trustcolliers.com\/blog\/air-conditioning-service\/ice-ac-no-shouldnt-be-there\/","title":{"rendered":"Ice on Your AC? No, That Shouldn\u2019t Be There"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"frozen-ac\"<\/p>\n

This is a topic we need to talk about with all homeowners who have a central air conditioning system. It\u2019s a topic people often misunderstand, and that leads to them failing to call for the AC repairs they need in time. Ice on an air conditioning system indicates that something is wrong\u2014it may be a minor repair issue, or it may be a serious malfunction that puts the entire cooling system in jeopardy. The only way to know for certain is to call HVAC repair technicians.<\/p>\n

Okay, let\u2019s get into the \u201cice on the AC\u201d confusion and why it\u2019s trouble.<\/p>\n

Air Conditioning Systems Don\u2019t Use Ice to Cool a House<\/h2>\n

When somebody notices ice along the indoor evaporator coil of an air conditioner (and this is almost always where ice appears first), they may think it\u2019s only a natural part of how the AC works. The air coming from the vents is cooled as if it were run across ice, so why shouldn\u2019t ice be part of the process?<\/p>\n

This is not<\/em> how air conditioning systems work! An AC moves heat from the air of a house and exhausts it outside, which cools the air. The refrigerant moving through the coils goes through a process of evaporating and condensing to move the heat. At no point is ice needed, and it shouldn\u2019t appear either, the same way you don\u2019t want to see ice appear in your refrigerator.<\/p>\n

How Malfunctions Create Ice in an AC<\/h2>\n

So why does ice appear on an air conditioner at all if it\u2019s not supposed to? Malfunctions can lead to the indoor evaporator coils losing their ability to absorb heat, and the refrigerant will remain so cold that the condensate moisture from the air will freeze and become ice. Once ice forms, it starts a vicious cycle of making it harder for the coils to absorb heat, causing more ice to form. If the coils become fully blocked with ice, they won\u2019t absorb any heat and the AC won\u2019t cool the home.<\/p>\n

Here are some reasons for the evaporator coils to lose heat absorption in the first place:<\/p>\n