HVAC

How Do I Check The Freon Level In My Home AC?

An Air Conditioning unit is for one primary purpose, to keep the house adequately ventilated. Hence, it becomes unneeded when an AC does not meet this purpose. Therefore, it is essential to properly maintain your AC for the best result and ensure that you do not have to deal with high heat during summer.

However, maintenance is not the only thing needed by your Air Conditioner; it also requires adequate Freon to work properly. Hence, where your AC is not working properly or is unable to meet up with supplying the house with enough cool air, it may be that you are low on Freon.

image - How Do I Check The Freon Level In My Home AC
How Do I Check The Freon Level In My Home AC

Knowing how to check the level of your AC Freon is an excellent way to determine when the problem is not a clogged condenser or clogged evaporator coil, which will save you from the stress of cleaning either of these two.

It will also save you from paying additional charges since you can quickly tell the technician what is wrong with the system.

What is Freon?

Freon is a well-known brand of refrigerants, and many people are now comfortable using Freon as a synonym of refrigerants. So when you hear Freon, what is being talked about is the Air Conditioner refrigerant responsible for the cooling of your house or office. Without adequate Freon, your AC cannot operate at an optimal level.

Expectedly, your AC can’t use up Freon since the refrigerant is generated from the house’s heat. This heat is turned into cool hair by the evaporator coil, and it is then circulated back into your home.

However, there may be low refrigerant in cases where there is a leak. This is often referred to as a refrigerant leak, and it happens when there is a leak around the refrigerant circuit.


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How Can You Determine the Level of Freon or Refrigerant in Your Air Conditioner?

It is impossible to determine the level of Freon in your AC yourself since this requires using a specialized gauge and expertise. However, it is possible to decide when the Freon is low by watching for certain signs.

It should be noted that the most accurate way to determine the level of Freon is by employing the service of a professional HVAC technician or company from https://directac123.com/ for a tune-up. During this, a test is run to determine the level of Freon, and you can ascertain whether it is low or not.

However, where you are interested in determining the level of Freon in your AC, you can consider the signs below:

1. Low Cooling or Inefficient Operation

The first sign that your AC may be low on Freon is when you detect that it is no longer working efficiently. Here is how Freon affects your AC. An Air Conditioner works by removing the heat in your house and replacing it with cool air.

However, this cool air is not stored in your AC; the evaporator coil simply converts the heat collected from your house into cool air, which is then circulated into your home. where the refrigerant or Freon is low, it means the AC does not have sufficient cool air to distribute. As such, the AC becomes ineffective.

2. When AC is Taking Longer to Ventilate the House Properly

If you have to wait for a long time before feeling the AC working, the problem may be low Freon. As explained above, AC needs Freon to operate efficiently. Where it is insufficient, the AC will need to work longer than usual to give the same result. Hence, it may result in AC not cooling your house in a short or expected time.

3. Freeze Coil

Since Freon is converted into cool air by the evaporator coil, it makes the coil susceptible to freezing. Though this usually happens when the evaporator coil is clogged, and the refrigerant cannot escape back into the house. If you notice that your evaporator coil is blocked or you notice a freezing coil, it means that your AC will not work efficiently.

Why do you need a technician to check the Freon level in your AC?

  • It Removes the Guesswork

The first benefit of having an HVAC technician work on your AC and determine if the Freon is low or not helps eliminate the guesswork.

Following a tune-up, you do not have to worry about the source of the problem since the technician will naturally determine if it is low or not. This also means that you do not overwork yourself and start checking different compartments of your AC to determine what is wrong.

  • Efficient and Periodical Servicing

An HVAC technician is the best option when dealing with any Air Conditioner problems. With servicing from a qualified technician, you can ensure that your AC is in good hands and that no part will be wrongly removed or replaced.

Opening and closing the unit yourself can cause more problems than imagined, which may mean that you pay more money for repair.

Conclusion

The reality remains that adding Freon to your air conditioner is only necessary if there is a leak. This is because the unit is not designed to need one.

However, when you notice that your AC is not working correctly and you have already engaged the service of a technician, it is ok to recharge or add refrigerant into your AC for optimal results.

It is also important to note that a refrigerant leak needs to be attended to by getting an HVAC company to service your system and do necessary repairs. If the Freon level is low and is not attended to, it may result in more problems sooner than expected since that means your AC needs to overwork itself to ventilate the house properly.

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Published by
Perla Irish