Purl's Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Air Conditioning Repair’

What It Means When Your AC Runs for Too Long

Monday, September 2nd, 2024
cold-man-and-woman-in-parkas

You get used to the way that your AC turns on and off—what’s known as its cooling cycle. An air conditioner cycles on when the thermostat sends a request for cooling, first turning on the blower fan and then the compressor. Once the thermostat registers the cooling has reached the target temperature, it signals the AC to cycle down, shutting off the blower fan and the compressor.

If you notice that your air conditioner is staying on for much longer, rarely cycling down, something is wrong. You may need to contact us for AC repair to resolve an issue in the HVAC system. You don’t want the air conditioner to continue to run, wasting power and making your home too cold. 

Below, we’ll look into what might cause this “runaway” AC trouble.

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My AC Keeps Tripping the Circuit Breaker! What’s Wrong?

Monday, July 8th, 2024
circuit-breaker-panel-close-up

The electrical panel in your home, i.e. the breaker box, serves the important function of protecting your electrical system from increases in voltage that can come from electrical shorts and appliances that place too much demand on their circuits. A breaker trips to cut off the voltage flow to the strained circuit, after which you can reset the breaker.

Your air conditioner may trip its circuit breaker at some point, as it’s one of the most powerful electrical appliances in your house. (If you don’t have an electric water heater, then it is the most powerful electrical appliance.) If you have to reset the AC’s breaker at some point, that’s usually not a serious problem. However, if the AC is regularly tripping the breaker, you may need to have AC repair done because something is wrong that’s causing the air conditioner to work harder than normal.

We’ll take a look in more detail at this situation below.

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Cooling Costs Rising? Let’s Find Out What’s Wrong

Monday, June 24th, 2024
money-blown-around-in-air

When you think about calling an HVAC contractor in Fresno, is an AC emergency repair that first thing that comes to mind? It is for most homeowners: when their air conditioning systems fail or won’t keep them cool enough, it’s time to call professionals for repairs. 

And, of course, that’s what our team at Purl’s is here to do! But we would also like to help you out when the situation with your AC doesn’t seem as drastic. What if you’ve noticed that you’re paying more to cool your house than normal? You might shrug it off as the “AC getting older,” but this is often a good reason to call for repair pros.

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What Does Ice on AC Coils Mean?

Monday, March 4th, 2024
ice-on-an-ac

Ice on AC coils in Fresno, CA typically indicates an issue with your air conditioner that needs attention. You might think at first that ice isn’t a big deal—it just means that the AC is working hard. But ice is not part of the cooling cycle of an air conditioner. We’ll explain below why ice may appear on your air conditioning system’s evaporator coil and what to do about it and prevent it.

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Why Your AC Is Unevenly Cooling Your Home

Monday, August 21st, 2023
Air-conditioner-with-clipboard

A common problem people encounter with air conditioning systems during hot weather is when the AC is running, but not all of the house receives an even distribution of cooling. There will always be some fluctuations in temperature throughout a house because of factors like lower insulation and radiant heat exposure. But a professionally installed air conditioner should make these minor. If professionals accurately sized the air conditioner for the home when it was installed, the AC should deliver the necessary comfort to all areas connected to the ventilation system. 

What can cause an AC to struggle to provide even cooling? We’ll look at several possible causes and help you understand when you need air conditioning repair—or maybe even a full system replacement. When you’re searching for “AC repair or air conditioning installation near me,” Purl’s is the first company to call.

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Can I Save Money on Cooling by Closing Room Vents?

Monday, June 12th, 2023
vent-register

Homeowners sometimes look at the louvers on the air vents in the rooms around their house and think, “Can’t I just shut that vent so no cool air is sent into this room? That at least means I’m not wasting extra money cooling it.”

This isn’t how vent covers or your air conditioning system works. In fact, shutting room vents can create much worse problems that may lead to you needing to call us for air conditioning repair in Fresno, CA. There are other ways you can save money with your air conditioning system, as well as ways to limit cooling to rooms.

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Why You AC Won’t Keep Up With the Heat

Monday, May 15th, 2023
thermometer-going-red

It can be awful to have an air conditioner working away during the day, running almost constantly, and still have a house that’s too stuffy and hot. If you’re currently having this trouble, you may need the assistance of a licensed HVAC contractor. Our repair professionals will see that your cooling system receives the assistance necessary to work its best with our skilled air conditioning repairs in Fresno, CA.

Below are some possibilities for why your AC may not be keeping up with the summer heat.

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When an AC Runs for Too Long

Monday, May 1st, 2023
Spinning-fan-closeup

We’ve written before about the problem of a short-cycling air conditioner, which is when an AC stops its cooling cycle (which usually lasts 15–20 minutes) earlier than normal, then continues to turn on and off rapidly. This is a serious problem that often requires calling for repairs.

There is the opposite version of this problem—an air conditioner that runs for far too long. When an air conditioner spends more than 30 minutes on its cooling cycle, or won’t stop cooling at all, it’s a huge waste of energy and will make the house too cold.

There are several reasons you may start to see this “nonstop AC” problem in your home. You can count on our technicians to find out the exact problem and have it fixed.

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How Has Your AC Held Up This Summer?

Monday, September 6th, 2021
air-conditioner-with-dirty-coils

Did you remember to have AC maintenance in Fresno, CA in the spring? If you did, then you gave your air conditioning system the best beginning to the summer. (If you didn’t … it’s not too late to schedule it!) But as wonderful as maintenance is, it can’t prevent all air conditioning problems or stop an AC from eventually wearing down.

As we move toward the fall, we recommend you think about your air conditioner’s performance over this last summer, especially if the system is more than 10 years old. If your air conditioning system is showing signs it needs repairs or it’s ready for retirement, have the service done as soon as possible. (Fall is a good time to replace older air conditioners because HVAC technicians have more open schedules.)

Let’s go through a few basic air conditioning considerations to see how well your cooling system held up.

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5 Reasons an AC May Start Short-Cycling

Monday, August 9th, 2021
air-conditioning-system-grill-top-down

An air conditioning system runs in cycles where the compressor turns on to provide cooling for the house, then shuts down until the thermostat registers it needs to turn back on. These cooling cycles should last at least fifteen minutes.

If you notice your AC shuts down after only a short time, then turns on again soon after, it’s short-cycling. This malfunction makes it hard for the air conditioner to fully cool a house. It also wastes energy (compressor start-up draws on large amounts of electricity) and wears down the AC components rapidly. Below we’ve listed five frequent causes of this problem.

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