Air conditioners are an essential utility to making your home a comfortable place for your family. With hot and humid summer weather coming to Kansas City, you need to make sure your air conditioner works properly. If your air conditioner isn’t cooling your house, you might need to call a professional HVAC company to inspect your unit.

At Cates Heating and Cooling, our residential cooling services are the perfect solution when you need to fix or replace your air conditioner without hassle. Our certified HVAC technicians are trained on all major brands to get your home feeling cool as fast as possible. As soon as you notice your air conditioner is not cooling properly, here are a few things you can look for before contacting the professionals at Cates Heating and Cooling.

Reasons Your AC Might Not Be Cooling

When your air conditioner is broken, you’ll notice quickly. There are plenty of possibilities as to why your AC system isn’t cooling correctly, some more common than others. If your air conditioning system isn’t working, but you want to put off calling an air conditioning repair company, here are a few things to check on your AC unit yourself.

Your Air Filters or Vents Need to be Cleaned

Clogged filters can keep cool air from circulating in your home, even when your air conditioner works fine. Air filters are placed in your indoor air conditioning unit to catch dust, dirt, and other airborne particles, providing your home with better air quality. When you have a dirty air filter, airflow in your house can become blocked, lowering the efficiency of your entire unit.

The same can be said about your vents. Vents filled with dust, dirt, and other debris can also keep your home from cooling, just like a clogged air filter. While cleaning your air vents is an easy household chore, it helps keep your air conditioner running efficiently.

At Cates Heating and Cooling, we recommend replacing your air filter every two or three months. Air filters might not seem like a big deal, but they are important to the overall efficiency of your home’s whole AC system. They help maximize the airflow in your AC system and ensure better air quality, giving your home cool, comfortable air even on the hottest summer days.

Your Thermostat Isn’t Set Correctly

While it might seem obvious, the reason your central air conditioning unit isn’t cooling could be due to your thermostat. Be sure to check your thermostat settings to make sure it’s set to cool and lower than your home’s current temperature. If you hear your AC unit turn on and you feel cool air, then you saved yourself some time and money on a service call.

When your air conditioning unit doesn’t turn on, the thermostat probably isn’t the problem. Before checking for other possible issues, you can also check if your air conditioner unit is turned on.

Next to your indoor air conditioner unit, there should be what looks like a light switch, sometimes located in a metal box. If you recently had work done on your air conditioner or furnace, the shut-off switch is sometimes left off by accident. Your air conditioning unit should turn on and start working once you flip the switch.

There’s an Issue With Your Outdoor Unit

Once you’ve cleaned your air filter and adjusted your thermostat, if your air conditioner still isn’t cooling, the issue might be with your outdoor unit. If you inspect your AC unit and it’s covered in leaves and debris, the condenser coil cannot properly push warm air out of your home. You can remove any leaves and debris and spray your AC unit gently with a hose to clear any blockage.

Also, be sure to check the drain line around your air conditioner. The drain line removes any water collected from the evaporator coil. When it gets clogged by leaves and debris, the line can burst and cause damage to your air conditioning unit.

Your Evaporator Coil Is Damaged

Inside your central air conditioner are many different coils to effectively heat and cool your home, one of which is the evaporator coil. The evaporator coil holds the refrigerant that cools the air before it gets released back into your home. Evaporator coils can get damaged over time, leading to your air conditioner shutting off completely or pushing hot air into your home rather than cool air.

A damaged evaporator coil can often lead to a refrigerant leak. If you notice any liquid around your indoor air conditioning unit or a chemical-like odor, that could be a sign your unit has a refrigerant leak. If your air conditioner isn’t cooling, but you don’t see any leaks, your refrigerant levels might be low.

You’ll need to call a professional AC repair company for issues with your evaporator coil or low refrigerant levels.

When to Call a Professional Air Conditioning Repair Company

From a clogged air vent to a blown circuit breaker, many issues keep your air conditioner from cooling that you can fix yourself. At Cates, we strive to teach homeowners all about their air conditioning system for maximum efficiency and comfort. However, some air conditioning problems are better left to the professionals.

As a general rule of thumb, we recommend calling your local AC repair company for any leaks coming from your central air conditioning system. This may only be a simple repair or could be a total air conditioner replacement, but you’ll need a professional to know for sure. If your air conditioner is not cooling after checking these common air conditioner problems, one of the trained HVAC technicians at Cates can diagnose the issue.

At Cates Heating and Cooling, our professional air conditioning repair technicians in Kansas City are trained to service any air conditioning brand. When your air conditioner is broken, you need a team to get it back up and running fast. The convenient financing options and knowledgeable HVAC team at Cates can get your home feeling comfortable again, without the hassle.

Schedule an appointment today. For Kansas residents, call 913-888-4470. For Missouri residents, call 816-944-1844.