Your air conditioner is the lifeblood of your home. It is the thing that helps keep you cool in the summer and the thing that helps you avoid sweating from the heat.
On average, air conditioners last about 15 years.
If your AC blows warm air, you may be concerned about the lifespan that your air conditioner has left. However, it is possible to fix a warm AC.
What should you do about this? Here are some tips.
Check the Compressor
Something that you are going to have to do is check your compressor. Depending on what you find here, this may be the reason why your AC is blowing warm air.
You see, the compressor is the part of the air conditioner that is supposed to cool the air. Without that, your AC is blowing warm air because there is nothing to filter the air that comes to you.
What are the signs that something is wrong with the compressor? You have to use your ears.
Do you hear a rattling sound? Is it ticking at all?
If the answer is yes, this could be a sign that your compressor failed. You are going to have to address this problem immediately to avoid it becoming a bigger issue.
Check the Unit
If you have an outdoor AC unit, you may want to take a look at what type of condition it is in. Depending on how clean it is, that may be what is causing your AC to blow warm air.
An example can be if you live in a particularly dusty or windy area. That gives a chance for dirt and other debris to spread in your area.
As a result, some of that dirt and debris may get caught in your outdoor AC unit. That can block your compressor, so it can result in cold air not being able to get through.
What do you do in this situation? You have to perform a deep cleaning on your AC unit. Take a thorough look at it and remove any dirt and debris you see with your naked eye. Check the inside and the outside of this unit to cover every inch.
This should at least eliminate and temporarily prevent any blockage to develop from dirt or debris. If the AC goes back to blowing cool air, then you can rule this as being the cause.
Check Your Air Filters
Another thing that can cause your AC to blow warm air is your air filters being covered with dirt or dust. When you have an air conditioner, it takes an active effort to keep up with the maintenance for it. That means cleaning the system every once in a while.
If you fail to keep up with the cleaning required, too much dirt and dust is eventually going to pile up in your AC. As a result, it can block the filter and it can blow warm air.
Just like the unit, you have to inspect the air filters and schedule a cleaning once in a while to help prevent blockage.
Check Your Thermostat
Depending on your thermostat settings, there may not have been anything wrong with your AC. Or, you could have simply overused the settings that you do have.
An AC system typically has a warm and cool setting. As for the fan, this is usually either on, off, or auto. If it is auto, that means that the AC fan will turn on whenever the room temperature starts to get too hot.
This can happen naturally if the AC is not already on, the outdoor temperatures are particularly warm, and there is a lot of light right by the thermostat. All of these can increase the room temperature and force the AC on.
What you need to do here is check your thermostat and see what settings your AC is on. Let’s say the fan is on, and the temperature setting is cool. In that situation, you will know something is wrong if the AC is blowing warm air.
Call a Professional If Your AC Blows Warm Air
Have you done all of the above and still have not figured out what the problem is? If the answer is yes, it may be time to call a heating and cooling professional.
What they can do is take a deep dive into your whole AC system and inspect every aspect of it. They know most models from top to bottom, so they are more likely to spot a cause that is not the easiest to see.
You will also get a realistic idea of how bad the damage is and if your AC is even fixable at this stage.
Replace the Air Conditioner
Finally, there may come a point where you have to accept your losses and replace the air conditioner outright because AC repair is not possible. As stated above, air conditioners usually do not last more than 15 years. So, there is going to come a time when it reaches the end of its lifespan.
You need to look at the house records and try to get an idea of when your air conditioner was installed. If it was more than a decade ago, the threat of it needing to be replaced altogether will loom large.
Learn More About Home Improvement
These are some of the things that you can do if your AC blows warm air. You can do little things such as check the unit, check the air filters, and check your thermostat.
However, there will come a time when you will need to call a professional and possibly have to replace your AC outright.
Do you want more related content? Check out our home improvement section.