This summer, especially if your in Phoenix, you might wind up asking yourself why is my AC blowing warm air? 

There are multiple answers to that question, we’ll cover most of the common reasons.

Thermostat

Your thermostat could be a reason why your AC is blowing warm air and that could be because it’s simply set to the “on” setting instead of “auto”. Your thermostat when cooling your home in the summer has to be set to “auto” and have your desired temperature set in order to cool the coils and blow the cooled air from the coils throughout the home. When set to “on” the only part of your air conditioner (AC) that is working is your indoor blower fan (the fan that blows air over your coils), that means your unit is only blowing the air in your ducts. Just check your thermostat, make sure its set to “auto” instead of “on”.

Dirty Condenser Coils

Dirty condenser coils are another good reason for why warm air is blowing in your home. Condenser coils are the outside part to your AC, when in cooling mode your unit moves the heat from the evaporator coil (indoor part) to the outside unit. These coils can get so dirty that when the freon passes through to remove the heat outside it cant because of all the debris its covered in. The debris can be dust, leaves and whatever else its exposed to in the environment outside. Routine maintenance can definitely prevent this problem from occurring because if the technician sees your coils are dirty he will recommend a coil clean or tell you what you can do to keep them clean.

Compressor

A very vital part of your air conditioner is your compressor, it sits outside in your condenser coils as part of the condenser. In the summer AC’s and heat pump’s will use the compressor, to take refrigerant and carry it into a hot high-pressure state through the condenser coils, so that it carries the heat outside and keeps the cool inside. A compressor breakdown is not for rookies to diagnose, you will need one of our expert AC technicians to make his diagnoses before he finds that it is in fact your compressor. They can have electrical problems, bad flow of freon and over heating. This breakdown will definitely be a reason why your AC is blowing warm air but they are a very costly repair and in some cases, it might just be better to go with a new AC unit.

frozen evap coil

Frozen AC Coil

Your evaporator coil in the summer is meant to cool your home whether you have a heat pump or an AC. In cooling mode condensation occurs on the evaporator coil but that condensation build up is intended to evaporate (hence the name evaporator coil). When its night time and the temperature drops, if it gets below freezing then when the condensation occurs, instead of evaporating the moisture, it freezes on the coil. The thermostat will see an increase in indoor temperature so it continues to try and cool the home, once the coil begins to freeze it will then freeze so much that there’s a solid block of ice preventing any air flow distribution throughout the home. We recommend to turn your unit off to allow the coil to defrost, give it some time then try to run it again, if it still doesnt provide any cool air then its time to contact an AC professional.

Freon Leak

Freon leak is definitely a reason why your AC could be blowing warm, but its something you will need one of our AC professionals to diagnose and repair. Signs of a freon leak are that the suction line is frozen, and of course your unit is blowing warm air. Your system could have a leak because of a joint that came loose, a bad valve, copper wearing away on the coil or poor build by the manufacturer. When your system is blowing warm air please have us out as soon as possible because if you wait too long your system could lose its refrigerant charge and we will have a hard time finding the leak.

Breaker Tripped

Another reason your AC is blowing warm air is because a breaker tripped. Each part to your unit has its own circuit breaker the outside and the inside. The inside is the part with the fan that is blowing air into the home, its likely that the outside units breaker has tripped, leaving just the inside to blow warm air. Also AC units use alot of electricity, circuit breakers flip to shut off the electric current as a safety precaution because it can be a fire hazard when theres too much current occurring. You should be able to go out to your circuit breaker box and flip the breaker back up, the breaker you need to flip should be the only one thats down. If the breaker goes back down then you need to contact us for a service call to diagnose the problem and provide an expert repair solution.