You may have heard the term “short cycling” applied to a problem with your air conditioner. This refers to a tendency for the system to turn on and off rapidly multiple times throughout the day, sometimes before it has had a chance to cool your home down. With summer coming and temperatures in Westlake, OH ready to hit the roof, short cycling can be devastating to your air conditioning system. AC units use exponentially more power starting up and shutting down than they do just running—increasing the strain on the system as well as increasing your monthly energy bills—and the faster you can deal with the problem, the better off you’ll be.
It takes a professional to properly diagnose the source of the trouble, but here are 3 causes of short cycling in your air conditioner that you should watch out for.
1. Icing on the Coils
Icing can form on the evaporator coils due to leaking refrigerant, dirt caked on the coils, or a dirty filter. Whatever the cause, it interferes with the cooling cycle and can result in short cycling. Scraping the ice off won’t work and may damage the coils. A professional needs to hunt down the source of the problem and correct it before the frost will dissipate.
2. Compressor Damage
The compressor array serves as a key component in the air conditioning process, and if it suffers damage, then your system may turn on and off more quickly than it should. This is a serious problem that usually requires replacing the compressor to fix.
3. An Overpowered System
In some cases, the air conditioner itself may have too much power for the space it’s trying to cool. That can cause short-cycling, which is why it’s very important to have a trained professional install your air conditioner after sizing your space properly.
If your system seems to be shutting on and off more often than it should, call upon Westland Heating and Air Conditioning to solve the problem right!
