Derek Cole explains why window air conditioners freeze and how to fix them. Remove and clean both coils and the filter twice a year. Freezing usually means dirty filters blocking airflow or low refrigerant from a leak, so clean the filter first, then call a pro if it persists.
Hey, on this episode we talk about why is my unit frozen and should I service my window unit. You ask your comfort and energy questions and they get answered. This is the Ask Derrick Cole Show. Hey, this is Derrick Cole. Welcome to episode 87 of the Ask Derrick Cole Show, answering your home and energy questions. And with this nice, beautiful, hot, muggy 98 degrees, feels like 110 weather, we've been excited. So we have a few questions.
Do I need to clean my window units?
Yes. I'll give you more than that. Charlene is going to be happy because she just has to transcript. Yes. Yes. The window unit, think of a window unit as a very, very, very small package unit. So you need to take it out twice a year, clean the coils on the outside, on the inside, and make sure those are clean. Spray them off with a hose, coil cleaner. And there's also what many people probably don't know is inside where the air blows, there is a filter in that compartment somewhere depending on your model that needs to be taken out and washed off, cleaned as well. So yes, you need to clean your window units, treat them just like If you had a central AC unit, it needs to be taken care of. It needs to be cleaned because it's the same process. It's just in a very small compartment.
So yes. My unit is frozen. What can I do?
Yeah, unit's frozen. It's a couple main things happen or causing that to happen. One is airflow. We talk a lot about checking, changing your filters inside your return. The reason is because your unit needs to breathe. So when it cannot breathe, it's going to frost up, freeze up, and stop from working because now it cannot breathe. Another common aspect of the freezing unit is it's low in refrigerant. We kind of hit refrigerant pretty hard a few weeks ago, but You shouldn't need to add refrigerant every year to your unit. And if it's leaking out, if the unit is frozen, then obviously we need to find the leak and fix the leak. The unit itself is not just going to run low on Freon all of a sudden, or, or use the Freon it's been using for 10 years and all of a sudden it needs 2 pounds. Obviously something has changed, it has leaked out somewhere. We need to find that leak stop it from happening, charge it back to the proper amount, and then you'll be good to go. But the freezing is usually caused by refrigerant and by airflow. So, uh, I think I would do myself if I saw it freezing up or frozen is to make sure my filters are clean and nothing is stopping the airflow. If everything's good there, then I would call and have a technician come out and check it because most likely you are low on refrigerant. Or again, you can have another airflow problem of, you know, the blower motor, things like that not working. Things you cannot do yourself, but the filter is something you can do yourself. So check that and make sure it's good to go. If it is, then call a professional. It's pretty good, right? All right, that was a short and sweet episode, uh, 87. Be sure to hashtag your questions #AskDerekCole and we will get them on this famous— is it world famous? Maybe. World famous show.
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