During the hottest months of summer, one of the most common problems is freezing of the condensing unit. This can cause the AC to blow hot air and not cool your home. If your AC is freezing, you want to take quick action to prevent serious damage to the compressor or coolant gas leaks. Here are the steps that you will want to take before contacting a professional HVAC service for help:

1. First, Turning the Power Off to Allow the Unit to Thaw

The first thing that you need to do when your AC freezes is to turn it off at the thermostat. Before you do anything else, it is also important to make sure that power to the air conditioning is also shut off at the main. This is an electrical box that is usually located outside, near the condensing units. If the main power is not outside, it may be located near the unit inside your home. Make sure you turn this off whenever you do any type of AC maintenance.

2. Getting Your AC to Thaw When It Has Frozen Over and Quits Cooling

After you have turned the AC off, you are going to want to thaw the unit. This can be done by just leaving the unit off until all the ice on coils has melted. If you want to speed up the process of thawing the AC, use a hair drier or heat gun, but be careful not to cause damage to parts by applying too much heat.

3. Cleaning the Condensing Coils to Prevent Freezing When Your Turn the AC Back On

The main cause of AC condensing coils freezing over is dirt and debris. It is important to keep your AC unit clean to avoid these types of problems. After you have thawed the ice and your AC has had time to cool down, clean the unit and coils to remove any buildup of dirt and dust that causes the freezing.

4. Having Your HVAC System Serviced to Ensure Freezing Does Not Cause Serious Damage

There are a lot of problems that can come from your AC freezing over, which an HVAC technician will be able to help with. Contact an HVAC service to help with inspection of the coils and unit, as well as do a more extensive cleaning to ensure freezing does not happen again.

These are the steps that you will want to take to deal with a freezing condensing unit. If your AC is freezing, it is important to contact an AC repair service for professional help because this can cause damage to the compressor, as well as coolant leaks.