A common complaint among homeowners is that their central air conditioner is always freezing up. If this is the case for you then you might want to think about doing a maintenance check. Failure to have the problem properly diagnosed could result in long-lasting damage to this crucial unit.
While there are, in fact, several reasons that your air conditioner is freezing up the typical suspect is your refrigerant levels. There could be a leak in one of the lines or it has just run out.
When this happens the coil starts to get extremely cold and ice begins to form on it. It builds and builds and over several days, maybe weeks, it grows into a large block of ice. Over time this causes damage to your compressor (the large block unit on the outside of your house). To prevent this you need to make certain that your refrigerant levels are routinely checked once a year in order to prevent this from happening.
A quick solution to ice forming is shutting off your compressor, while letting the fans still run, so that the excess ice melts.
The evaporator coil also needs a good place to drain its excess condensation. You will notice some type of tube or pipe attached to it for this purpose. If this device gets blocked, some way, it can cause a huge build up that could damage your unit and cause it to freeze up. If you should notice that the problem is getting worse over time then you need to call a certified HVAC technician to come out and find the exact location where the leak is and repair the problem.
Another quick fix is just changing out the air conditioner filter. You would not believe how many homeowners let several years go by in between them doing this. These filters are at the most $10 and making sure they stay unclogged is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to preventing costly problems with your air conditioner. A dirty filter will restrict good air flow which in turns will lower the cooling point of the evaporator coil below its typical freezing point. You need to inspect all the vents and keep on top of them staying debris free and clean.
Lastly, you need to check the thermostat. It’s rare but sometimes it is not the central A/C unit that is malfunctioning but the unit (thermostat) controlling it. Not only should you set your inside temperature 15 degrees lower than the temperature outside but you need to have it inspected once every several years. There is a way a homeowner can inspect the thermostat himself by discounting the Y terminal and seeing if the air conditioner still turns on but you should only attempt this if you really know what you are doing.