“My unit is frozen, what can I do?”
A couple of main things are causing that to happen. One, is air flow, we talk a lot about checking and changing your filters inside your returns, the reason is your unit needs to breathe. When it cannot breathe it is going to frost up, freeze up, and stop working. Another common aspect of the freezing unit is it is low on refrigerant.
You shouldn’t need to add refrigerant every year to your unit. If it is leaking out, if your unit is frozen, then we need to find the leak and fix it. The unit itself is not just going to run low on freon all of a sudden and use the same freon it has been using for 10 years and then all of a sudden needs 2 pounds. Obviously, something has changed, it has leaked out somewhere and we need to find the leak. We need to stop it for happening and charge it back to the proper amount and then you will be good to go.
The freezing is usually caused by refrigerant and air flow. I think what I would do myself is if it is freezing up or frozen is to make sure my filters are clean and nothing is stopping the air flow. If everything is good there, then I would call and have a technician come out and check it. Most likely you are low on refrigerant, or you could have another air flow problem. The blower motor or other things like that that are not working, things you cannot do yourself.
The filter is something you can fix yourself, so check that and make sure it is good to go, then call a professional if you cannot.
Your friend in comfort and energy savings,
Derek Cole
Derek Cole is the General Manager of One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning®, an independently owned and operated franchise based in Laurinburg, North Carolina since 1953. He has more than 15 years of experience in the HVAC industry and has created two You Tube broadcasts, The Comfort Experts and #AskDerekCole, filled with tips and tricks on saving energy and being comfortable. He was named the Top 40 under 40 in the HVAC industry by the News magazine and featured in Entrepreneur Magazine Franchise Player Spotlight. Derek has also been seen on CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC, Huffington Post, and Bloomberg Business sharing about One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning® and home comfort tips.