Summers in Westlake, OH are hot and brutal, and any time your air conditioner can’t do the job, you need to address the problem very quickly. Otherwise, you could be left without adequate air conditioning in the middle of a heat wave, which is an active health concern as well as a serious blow to your household comfort levels.
One of the subtler signs of an air conditioning problem is short-cycling, when the system turns on and runs for a brief period, then turns off again, only to turn on again just a few minutes later, and so on. It doesn’t sound like much, but it can cause a great deal of damage to your system, and if you detect it, you should call in a repair service immediately.
It Wastes Energy
Air conditioners use up a huge amount of energy when they first turn on, in order to get up to speed. They also use a lot of energy when they turn off, and slow down their cycle. In between, however—when the system simply runs—the energy usage is much lower. Because of that, you want your air conditioner to run at least 15 minutes at a clip before it shuts down. Otherwise, you’re wasting a great deal of energy, costing you in higher monthly bills and increasing the strain on the system as a result. Over time, it will almost certainly result in a breakdown and may even shorten the overall life of the system if you let it.
Causes
The biggest cause of short cycling is an overpowered air conditioner, and the bad news is there’s no correcting it without replacing it with a smaller unit. Because of that, you need to pay very close attention to your AC size before you install it. Other causes may be more treatable: an excess of dirt on the internal components for example, or a compressor array that’s having problems.
Call Westland Heating and Air to handle short cycling in your system.
