Can Low Refrigerant Levels Hurt My AC in Indio, CA?

The answer to the question we’ve posed in our title is an unequivocal “yes.” Since your air conditioner would be incapable of generating cold air without refrigerant, its loss can have severely adverse consequences. Here are only a few ways in which low levels of refrigerant may hurt the AC in your Indio, CA, home.

Loss of Cooling Ability

One of the most immediate consequences of a refrigerant leak is a noticeable drop in your AC’s overall cooling power. If the system loses enough refrigerant, it may end up expelling warm air instead of cold air.

Many things may cause your AC to exhibit lackluster performance, so don’t treat this event as an automatic sign that you’ve had a refrigerant leak. To confirm that suspicion, stay alert for hissing noises or the smell of ether in the air. Of course, to keep your AC performing at its peak for as long as it can, you need to provide it with maintenance services at least once per year.

Compressor Damage

Normally, after refrigerant moves into your AC’s compressor, this all-important component should heat up and pressurize the refrigerant until it becomes condensable. Unfortunately, if there’s too little refrigerant gas in your system, it will be extremely difficult to bring it to the required level of pressure. Consequently, your AC’s compressor will work inordinately hard to accomplish that task and may end up overheating and damaging itself in the process.

Ice on the Evaporator Coil

The evaporator coil is the part of your AC that should absorb heat from the air in your home. As warm air passes over the coil, the refrigerant inside it should soak up heat and evaporate into gas. If there’s too little refrigerant in your system, however, the ambient temperature may drop, causing any condensation sitting on the coil to harden into ice.

If you’ve discovered that your AC is leaking refrigerant, leave your home immediately. Then, call Palm Desert Air Conditioning and Heating Co., and sign up for the best AC repair services in Indio, CA.

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