Is your air conditioner in good health?
Knowing every time appliances around your house need repairs can be difficult, and even feel impossible for an untrained eye. Most people aren’t trained how to recognize the sometimes small and vague signs of air conditioner problems. Thankfully, some of the possibly more severe damage and malfunction scenarios have semi-obvious signs that anyone can recognize.
Whether you see these big signs or not, if your system ever seems just to not be functioning properly, it may be time to look into getting a technician over to do your air conditioning duct repair.
Let’s go through the signs that indicate you need home air conditioner repair.
1. Dust and Debris Around the Vents
If you find things like dust or dirt around or inside your vents, that’s a sign that the ducts are not filtering the air properly. This can be from air filters being simply ready for replacement or damaged, but it can also come from rips and leaks in your system.
This allows dirt and dust from outside into the air system, sending it throughout the house.
Having debris in your vents isn’t simply a case of uncleanliness.
This can bring many health risks and concerns to you and any other household members. This can be especially risky for pets, children, and anyone in the household that has a respiratory condition such as asthma.
It can also be a sign of bigger concerns in your system. Because the dust needs a way to get into the system in the first place, having this debris throughout your system can mean that there are serious tears and holes in your vents.
2. Unexpected Hikes in Your Energy Bill
Air conditioners run off of energy, and that energy can end up being costly for you. If your bills start unexpectedly spiking, it can be a cause for large concern.
Tears and leaks inside your air conditioner ducts can cause the system to have to work more than should usually be needed to compensate for the air loss. This can end up using and wasting a lot more energy than you’re used to being billed for.
This is an important sign to look out for, as the other more physical signs for these issues can remain hidden for a while. The longer issues like holes in vents stay unrepaired, the more the condition can degrade, leading to an even more costly repair.
3. Uneven Temperature Throughout Your House
If the temperature is uneven throughout the house, it means that something is compromising the vents in a way that they cannot do their job of delivering the same air throughout the house.
This usually becomes the case if the vents get bent, clogged, ruptured.
Whether you address and try to have this repaired or not, it can become a very expensive issue. When not addressed, this issue can easily lead to all of the other issues in this list, so it’s best to have it repaired as soon as you notice it.
4. The Vents Smell Moldy or Like Mildew
If your air starts smelling moldy or like mildew, this is usually a serious cause for concern. Breathing in mold, especially as frequently as you would if it’s in household vents, can lead to some serious health concerns.
Mold and mildew appear when there’s an uneven temperature between the vents themselves and the air within. This causes moisture buildup, and thus mold and mildew, inside the vents.
Health concerns that become at risk when this is left untreated include severe allergic reactions.
Mold is a health hazard to those with mold allergies or asthma. It’s also a danger to children, the elderly, the immunocompromised, and anyone with chronic lung disease.
This needs to be checked out and seen as soon as possible to avoid severe health damage and even more extensive medical bills.
5. Signs of Pests in Your Vents
Small leaks and large tears can let many different small animals and creepy crawlies inside your vents. They like to use the vents to more easily get throughout your house.
Signs for these include hearing them moving through the vents, scratching, seeing excrement inside and around vents, and noticing any concerning foul smells.
Not only is this just gross as an idea, but it can also lead to many health hazards, as well as just a high discomfort in general.
When small animals like rats, mice, or even squirrels get into vents, eventually the unsavory will happen. Dead animals not only cause a foul smell, but their bodies’ release of different chemicals and microbes while decomposing can lead to serious health concerns.
Even while they’re alive, different illnesses can still be passed through the air, and they also have a tendency to dig. This causes further damage to the venting and puts your system at an even higher risk for more severe issues.
What Can I Do Now?
If any of these sound familiar to things you’re experiencing with your system, you should look into getting repairs as soon as possible. Even if you’re not sure there’s an issue, it’s always better safe than sorry.
Check out https://larsenheatingandair.com/services/air-conditioning-repair/ to learn more about a service that will help restore your home air conditioner.
Know When You Need Air Conditioning Duct Repair
It’s easier to call an inspector and be told you were mistaken, versus waiting until the damage is severe and finding told that you were right to suspect those signs and the extent of the damage could’ve been prevented.
Waiting to get any air conditioning duct repairs done can cause more damage and eventually lead to an even more costly repair, so please, don’t put it off.
If any of this has helped you, browse our blog for more home and lifestyle tips and advice.