Is My AC Inefficient in Santa Clara, TX?

For those trying to stay cool through a hot summer in Santa Clara, TX, inefficient ACs are wasteful and burdensome. Therefore, it’s important to know what to look for in order to catch issues before they turn into bigger concerns. Here are a few signs that your home’s AC system might be inefficient.

Failure To Blow Cool Air

For all practical purposes, an AC that blows out warm air is not functioning efficiently. ACs should cool your home, so if yours keeps it warm, all of the energy that it consumes effectively goes to waste.

This is a serious problem that demands immediate remedial action. Many factors have the ability to cause this, including leaky ductwork, dirty air filters that restrict airflow, an insufficient quantity of refrigerant and a faulty compressor.

High Electricity Bills

Perhaps one of the clearest indicators of your AC’s efficiency level is the amount of your electrical bills. Since your AC runs on electricity, the higher your power bills are, the more energy your AC is probably using. If, despite not using your AC any more than usual, you suddenly receive a massive power bill, you almost surely have some sort of AC efficiency issue on your hands.

Of course, increased use of any other electrical devices may also explain your increasing bills. Make sure that you’ve ruled out these alternatives before concluding that your AC isn’t working properly.

Short Cycling

Short cycling refers to when an AC, furnace or other HVAC system turns on and off so quickly that it cannot complete an operative cycle. When ACs function normally, they should turn on when your thermostat detects temperatures above the level you want and turn off after the temperature matches what you requested on the thermostat. On a properly functioning AC, this equates to approximately 15 to 20-minute cycles.

Once it starts short cycling, your AC will struggle to adequately and consistently cool your home. Unfortunately, while it is in this state, your AC will waste much of the energy that it uses up.

Your AC may exhibit this concerning behavior because it has lost some of its refrigerant, dirty air filters are blocking airflow or the coils and compressor have gone bad, among other reasons. You’ll need professional repairs to resolve these concerns.

Lack of Maintenance

To help ensure that your AC functions at its peak, trained HVAC technicians will need to give your system a tune-up at least once or twice per year. In the course of this work, they may refill your system with refrigerant, remove debris from the compressor, fasten loose fan blades, check electrical connections, tighten screws and inspect other components. If you ignore the need for maintenance, your AC’s efficiency will fall to less than ideal levels.

Age

The older your AC is, the more likely it is to have a suboptimal level of energy efficiency. Even though, as we mentioned, periodic maintenance can preserve or even improve your AC’s current level of efficiency for some time, age eventually catches up to every system.

The average service life of a central AC system is about 15 years. If your system is older than that, it’s almost certainly operating at a significantly lower efficiency level than when you first got it. Even if your AC is a good deal younger than that, its efficiency has likely slumped since its original installation.

This is true even if there don’t appear to be any obvious issues with your system, like a failure to turn on, broken parts or unreliable electrical connections. While indicators like these certainly matter, you should not rely on them exclusively.

If you are experiencing any of the abovementioned factors, it’s important to seek assistance right away. Our family-owned team of highly-trained technicians strives to keep our customers comfortable in their homes year-round. For prompt, quality service, call Legacy Home Services and request our AC repair services near Santa Clara, TX today.

Image provided by iStock