An air conditioning system is manufactured to use a specific amount of chemical refrigerant. This is known as an air conditioner’s charge. People often make the mistake of thinking refrigerant is an energy source for an air conditioner. It isn’t. The energy source of an air conditioner is electricity. Refrigerant is the heat transference medium that allows the air conditioner to move thermal energy outside of the house (cooling the indoor air) and exhausting it. The refrigerant evaporates and condenses in a cycle and never dissipates—so it will never get “used up.”
That doesn’t mean it can’t have a low charge, however! An amateur may have put the wrong charge in the AC when it was installed. The refrigerant lines can also corrode and develop leaks. Whatever the cause of an undercharged air conditioner, it means a range of problems and eventually a broken down AC.
The best way to ensure a great AC installation is to work with licensed HVAC professionals. In fact, this is the only way to do it—unless you are an HVAC professional yourself. Trying to take on the installation job on your own or allowing an amateur to do it is a big “nope.”
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When it’s one of the hottest days of the summer in Tampa Bay, what’s the last appliance in your home you want to break down? We can’t imagine you’d answer anything other than “the air conditioning system.” We need our household air conditioners running at peak reliability through the season, and often long past it. This is why we always stress the importance of scheduling annual maintenance in spring for ACs; it’s the best “insurance policy” against a system suffering an abrupt shutdown during the heat.
Heat pumps are becoming more and more popular for home comfort, especially here in Florida. But even with heat pumps popping up in a larger number of houses than ever before, the general public has many misunderstandings about what they are how they operate—and that makes it more difficult to know if a heat pump might be a good installation for home comfort.
The compressor is the literal heart of a central air conditioning system: it’s what causes refrigerant to move through the rest of the system and transfer heat from the inside to the outside. When a compressor fails, the AC fails. The fans may still run, but no cool air will come from the vents.
Homes across the US frequently have issues with indoor air quality. Because modern houses are designed to prevent loss or gain of heat through open areas, there’s little chance for fresh air circulation to clean out the concentration of indoor contaminants.
The weather in Tampa is already sunny and warm, just as we’d expect in May. Air conditioners are now up and running, and they’ll probably only have a few days of break time for the rest of the season.