Ice sometimes appears on the indoor evaporator coil of an air conditioner—and that’s not something that you want to happen. An AC doesn’t use ice at any point in its operation, and development of frost along the components indicates that the system needs to have repair work done right away. Don’t attempt to scrape the ice off; this won’t solve the cause of the problem and it may cause damage to the air conditioner. Only HVAC professionals can get to the root of the trouble and fix it.

Reasons that ice may form on an AC

When you find ice on an air conditioner, it is almost always along the indoor evaporator coil. This means that the evaporator coil isn’t absorbing as much heat from the air as it used to, and as result its surface is staying too cold and freezing moisture condensation along it.

There are a number of reasons for this to occur:

• The air conditioner has lost refrigerant through a leak. The reduced level of refrigerant still in the system will not be able to absorb sufficient heat through the evaporator coil and remain too cold, triggering ice formation. Technicians will need to seal the leak and restore the refrigerant to its proper level.
• A clogged air filter is restricting the amount of warm air moving across the coil. You can help prevent this by changing the air filter once a month during the cooling season.
• Dirt and grime gave collected across the coil, insulating it and lowering heat absorption.

No matter the cause of the ice, the problem needs to be repaired or else more ice will start to appear. If this continues unchecked, eventually a complete block of ice will cover the evaporator coil and the air conditioner will not provide any cooling power at all.

To arrange for fast air conditioning repairs in West Dundee, IL, call on the experts at Lifeline Plumbing, Inc. We offer 24/7 emergency service throughout Chicagoland and Fox Valley.