What Happens When an AC Coil Gets Dirty?

Dirt buildup on an AC Coil can cause serious damage if not taken care of properly. Learn what happens when an AC Coil gets dirty & how AIRTEAM can help.

What Happens When an AC Coil Gets Dirty?

Dirt can make your air conditioner less efficient, resulting in higher energy bills each month. When dirt accumulates on the air conditioner coils, it becomes harder for the system to absorb and discharge heat, making it less effective. You may even start to feel like your air conditioner is constantly running. In extreme cases, a dirty evaporator coil can cause the air conditioner to break down completely. This occurs when condensation forms on the dirt and then freezes during operation of the air conditioner.

Frost buildup prevents heat transfer with the air in your home, causing the air conditioner to stop cooling. Freezing is caused by condensation and dirt build-up on the coil. When dirt accumulates on the evaporator coil, it limits the amount of heat it can absorb. This causes moisture to build up in the coil as well. With cold temperatures, this water can freeze and turn to ice, which can damage the air conditioner.

At this point, you will need to call an expert for air conditioner repair. Another problem that can create a dirty evaporator coil is a clogged condensate drain. The condensate drain removes condensate that can accumulate in the evaporator coil. However, if the coil is dirty, condensation will be filled with dirt and dust, which can stop draining and create problems. Freezing is one of the worst things that can happen to your air conditioner coil.

Do you know what happens when the AC coil freezes?Because dirt build up restricts the amount of heat it can absorb, condensation can build up on the coil. This water then turns to ice. When this happens, your air conditioner can break down, causing unnecessary and unexpected expenses, and even stress for you and your family. When the evaporator coil has reached the point where it freezes, the air conditioner can break down. This will occur if dirt buildup restricts the amount of heat the evaporator coil can absorb.

Condensation will then build up on the coil and the water will turn to ice, causing it to freeze. Over time, your air conditioner will stop cooling the air in your home. You may be considering an expensive repair or replacement of an air conditioner if this happens. Eventually, it can overload the compressor and blower motor, causing them to overexpand and possibly fail. Therefore, you need to ensure that you replace filters in a timely manner and make sure that the system is turned off when you replace them. The evaporator coil should always be clean because there is a filter before it.

There's no reason there should be debris there. Then, all seals in the attic assembly where the return duct network is connected to the furnace and evaporator coil must be properly sealed. If not, you are introducing air without attic air conditioning, more than likely with dust. Most people don't go up to their attic and dust, so all of that will end up trapped in the coil and eventually cause a system failure. The main function of an evaporator coil in your HVAC system is to absorb heat from circulating air in your home. Because it is such a crucial function of an HVAC system, even a small amount of debris in the coil can affect performance. Most calls for air conditioning repair in Houston are due to a dirty evaporator coil.

In fact, if your system doesn't seem to cool down like before, you may also have a dirty evaporator coil. You should always pay attention to how your HVAC performs when cooling your home as it could show signs of problems right from the start. Spotting signs of a dirty evaporator coil early will save you from financial headaches. It always works but doesn't get cold Sure, it might seem like an obvious sign but you'd be surprised how many Houston homeowners attribute this to weather conditions. Just because it's 101° outside doesn't mean a good HVAC unit should struggle to keep your home cool. If your unit is running constantly but your house doesn't get very cold, that's not due to Houston's heat - it's due to a problem with your system.

It is designed to turn on in cycles when temperature in your home exceeds settings you specify until it reaches those settings. If you have cooling problems, cycles will occur more often with seemingly constant running - these problems are almost always caused by a faulty or dirty evaporator coil. Frozen Evaporator Coil An evaporator coil is supposed to be cold - usually around 40° - but when it comes to a dirty evaporator coil, it can't absorb as much heat which causes condensation on the coil and eventually freezing which causes serious damage to the unit. Therefore if you see ice buildup on an evaporator coil turn off system immediately and contact AIRTEAM for service call to prevent further damage. Your Air Cleaner may look like an insignificant part of your Houston HVAC system but that couldn't be further from truth - it's responsible for preventing all types of debris from entering your system. However over time it gets dirty and with more dirt becomes less effective so needs replacing - typically every 2-3 months for entry-level systems and some high-end systems once or twice a year depending on home environment - if you have pets that lose fur often you'll need replacing filter more often. You should also clean return air grilles and individual grilles to remove dust or dirt - regarding look of filter might be worth updating filter as well - filters made from many different materials with basic materials and advanced materials - make sure anything upgrading fully compatible with system and meets requirements.