One of the most important jobs of a central air conditioning system is spreading cooling power evenly around a house. It’s one of the many reasons to have a central AC system rather than window units, which only affect the rooms they’re in. When you have an effective central air conditioner, you can enjoy the same pleasant temperatures all through the rooms of your house whenever the heat outside rises (and it can rise any time of the year here in Katy!).
But uneven cooling is an issue central air conditioners often face. If you are discovering rooms that are hotter and stuffier than normal in your house when you have the AC running, you might have a serious problem requiring air conditioning repair in Katy, TX from our professionals.
What’s Causing This?
There are multiple possible causes for uneven cooling with a central HVAC system. You may be dealing with one or more of the following troubles:
- Leaking air ducts: The ductwork of a ventilation system needs to remain airtight in order for the air conditioner to work efficiently. When cooled air begins escaping from a stretch of the ducts, not only will it cause a drop in the air pressure, it will leach away the cool air going to the room vent and make the room much hotter.
- Aging air conditioner: Uneven heating is one of the major warning signs of an air conditioner in decline because of age. As the system starts to lose its cooling capacity, the rooms farthest along the ventilation system will turn hotter. An AC technician can tell you when your system is too old for repairs to be effective. We recommend replacing any system 15 years or older rather than throw more money into repairs.
- Short-cycling: This is behavior from an air conditioner where the compressor starts and stops without completing a full cooling cycle. (If you hear the compressor running for only 5 to 10 minutes at a time, it’s probably short-cycling.) When the compressor runs for a shorter time, it doesn’t allow the cool air to reach all the rooms, resulting in hot spots. Short-cycling is highly damaging to an AC, creating numerous problems and raising utility bills, so it’s something you’ll want fixed right away.
- Zone control trouble: If your home has zone controls that allow you to shut off air flow to certain rooms, the uneven cooling may be the fault of the room thermostat sensors or trouble with the dampers in the ducts.
- Clogged air filter: The air filter in an HVAC system collects dust and debris as it runs. This prevents the dust from entering the HVAC cabinet, but if the build-up is too much because the filter hasn’t been changed for a clean one, it will block airflow. And lower airflow, as we mentioned above, will start leading to rooms that are too hot. Make sure you change the air filter every 1 to 3 months, with more frequent changes during the summer.