If your home's air conditioning system isn't working as well as it should, there are several things that it could be. One of the things that it could be a lack of refrigerant. You can recharge the air conditioning system yourself, but there are things that you should do before you take that step since it can be tricky to handle air conditioning refrigerant, and it may take a little time for you to get it.
Clean Your System
Before you do anything, make sure that you clean your entire air conditioning system. That means that you are going to need to clean everything from your intake ducts to your condenser and evaporator. The air conditioner may be not working because it is dirty and air just can't get through the way that it should. The condenser unit is the part on the outside of your house. It gets a lot of exposure to things like dirt and debris. You can clean it off by spraying it with a hose after you have cleared out any debris that is in or around your condenser. You will also need to clean off or replace all the filters for your air conditioner. Before you do anything else, wait a day or two so that you can see if cleaning the system took care of the problems. If not, then it's time to move on to the next step.
Check For Leaks
You are going to need to check for leaks or damaged parts of the system. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is that you need to know if the system is damaged because you don't want to add more refrigerant into an already damaged system since it can further damage your system. The other reason is that you don't want to add in more refrigerant only to have it leak out and leave you in the same place you were before. You will need to check all the joints to make sure that they are holding and look at their welds to make sure aren't any holes. Then check out the pipes and look them over carefully. If there are no leaks, it's time to add in the new refrigerant.
Add Refrigerant
There are different kinds of refrigerants that get used in ACs, so you should look at your owner's manual to see what kind of refrigerant you need. After you buy it from a licensed dealer, it's time to add it into the system. The first thing you need to do is to turn off your air conditioner. The best way to do that is to go to your fuse box or circuit breaker and interrupt the system. That way you know for sure that it is completely off. Then you need to connect the refrigerant to the AC unit. There are valves on the unit that will match up to the tank the refrigerant is in. After you hook it, you will need to turn your AC back on, and then turn it on in the house. That will let the refrigerant move into the system. Pay attention to the gauges on your AC so that you don't overfill it.
If your AC isn't getting as cold as it used to, you may need to check and change the refrigerant. For more information, contact a company like A One Heating & Air Conditioning.
