Air Conditioner Not Blowing Cold Air?

Have you ever turned on your air conditioner and it’s just not blowing cold like you think it should?

Or maybe it starts off cold but turns warm only after a few minutes?

Did you know that most problems to do with the air conditioning are actually very easy to troubleshoot.

Of course there are things that can go wrong that can be out of the range of fixing or replacing yourself.

But when the AC is not blowing cold air, it’s usually only one of a few things.

Air conditioner not cold? Here’s a few simple reasons that could be.

1.  Clogged filter(s)

The first thing to check and by far the most common problem is the filter or filters being too dirty to allow for good airflow.

This is a problem that affects the cooling and the heating both in central heat and air systems.

Many a HVAC tech has been called to a residence to diagnose a air conditioning not getting cold problem only to find that the filters are clogged.

The first and easiest thing you can do to  get your air conditioning cooling again is to make sure that the filters are clean and the grill outside of the filters is dusted off and clean to.

2.  Thermostat settings

The thermostat on a home air conditioner has to settings that run the fan. One setting is the On sitting and the other is the auto mode setting.
The auto setting turn the fan on as the AC is cooling. The On setting runs the fan continuously even when the AC is not on.
Another reason that the AC may not be blowing cold air is that the cooling is off and the fan is set to On.

Not only will the air not be cool that is coming through the vents, it will probably be a little warm since most AC HVAC units are installed in the Attic.

Easy fix number 2. Make sure the thermostat is set to cool and Auto.

3.  Covered in debris.

The third thing to check is that the outdoor unit of your AC is clean and clear of debris. If you outside of the machine is covered in debris or weeds, the warm air that is supposed to expel from the unit outside will not be able to escape and will stay inside. Sending warm air through your vents and eventually overheating.

4.  Humidity

Humidity and air conditioners do not get along. when the humidity is High inside of the house you can feel like the air conditioner is not running at all.
Unfortunately the fix for this not something you can easily do with a little extra cleaning.
If the humidity is so hard that it is overpowering the air conditioner, a dehumidifier is a machine that can pull the moisture out of the air and allow your air conditioning to function normally again.
Some central heat and air units come with a setting called “dry mode”.
Dry mode is essentially a dehumidifier built into your air conditioner.

5.  Frozen up

Finally a problem that can be solved on your own to a certain extent is if the AC is freezing over.

The way the air conditioning cools down your home is it takes the warm air come inside of your home and lose it across refrigerated cooling coils. Then sends the air back into your home.

This is a problem that relates to the other steps in this short guide.

First you’re going to have to take a look at the unit outside to see if it’s frozen.
Sometimes it will be frozen enough that you can see it from the outside. Usually you’re going to have to take off the access panel and see if the copper coils are iced over.

If they are, you’re going to have to let it thaw out. You can run the fan without the AC and it will help thaw the unit little faster.

Why is your AC freezing over?

The Air conditioner relies on the are being able to flow freely across the cooling coils. If there is something obstructing we are in keeping it from moving across the coils easily, it can freeze over.

Easy fix. Change the filters, clean the grill outside of the filters, and clean any debris off of the outside of the outdoor part of a unit.

Another thing that relates to an air conditioner freezing up is humidity.
Too much humidity in the air can make the air flowing across the cooling coils to moist and produce ice as its going through.

Sorta easy fix. Run the dehumidifier or the AC on dry mode to reduce the humidity in the air and help keep the air conditioning from freezing over.

Window AC not blowing cold air

Window air conditioners work much the same way as a home AC but in a much smaller condensed package.

When the window AC is not blowing cold air, it usually boils down to one or two issues.

1.  The filter is clogged. When do you filter which is located on the face of the window AC gets clogged, the air conditioner will have a very hard time cooling off the room.

On most window AC the filter is very easy to pull out from the side or open the grill and pull it out that way.
A lot of very tiny dust particles can get lodged in the filter that are not easily seen with the naked eye. So be sure to take a stiff brush and brush it out very well before putting it back in.

If you wash the filter with water, be sure to let it dry good before putting it back in and running the AC because of the risk of mold taking root.

Window air conditioner blows cold then warm

If the window air conditioner gets too dirty the airflow begins to be an issue.

When the unit cannot get proper airflow it will start to shut down and go into a mode where it is running but not cooling.

Also the back of the air conditioner must be completely clear and not up against anything it will cause the hot-air that is supposed to expel out of the rear to not do so.

Taking apart a window air conditioner and cleaning it thoroughly, preferably by blowing it out rather than wiping, will do wonders to help restore your machine and get it blow cold air again.

And be sure to make sure that there is nothing obstructing the rear of the window AC that would keep the heat exiting like it should.

Window air conditioner keeps turning off.

A window AC usually has a reset button located where are the plug is. If the unit doesn’t come on at all, nine out of 10 times the reset button needs to be pressed before it will come on.

Window air conditioner panel not working

What if your window AC keeps going off and it is not tripping the breaker or the reset, there is a chance that your air conditioner panel is going out.

The thermostat panel on a window air conditioner is a fairly inexpensive part most dad’s will be able to fix on their own.

Luckily, there is a wide range of YouTube videos to take you through each step if needed.