Normally, a cold air conditioning unit is a good thing. You want your system to be as cold as possible, delivering freezing air on demand to every point in your house. But when the pipes are frozen over and your system stops working completely, that can be a recipe for disaster. Not only will you probably have to call for air conditioning repair, but you might also have to schedule a full replacement of the entire system.

Why does this happen, and more importantly, how can you prevent your AC unit from freezing up? Here are a few reasons and their solutions.

Lack of Refrigerant

Despite its simplistic appearance, an air conditioning unit is a remarkably complex piece of machinery. The whole system works because the AC unit takes the hot air from the inside and blows it outside; to do that, it needs refrigerant. The coils in your AC unit use refrigerant to take the hot air inside and convert it back into cold air to shoot back into the house. Without refrigerant, your house will have nothing but hot air. 

How does that create ice buildup on your coils? Too little refrigerant in your system will cause a pressure issue which causes a greater amount of moisture to collect on the coils and freeze. Over time, the pipes will become more and more frozen, until the unit can't blow cold air out at all. If this happens, simply call and AC repair tech to refill the refrigerant and fix whatever issues he or she sees.

Lack of Ventilation

One of the main reasons that you need to change your air filter every few months is to prevent dust from blowing back into your system. If too much dust gets into the air ducts, it can form on top of the coils in your AC unit and create an insulating layer that stops cold air from releasing into the atmosphere. Not only will your system break down, but you'll also probably be looking at possible ductwork issues too, so call and air conditioning repair tech to clean out your vents.

Lack of Air Flow

Even if your air ducts aren't collapsed completely, a partially obstructed duct can limit the amount of air that reaches the AC unit and force your coils to freeze over. As mentioned above, the coils need warm air in order to generate the cold air, so blocking these ducts limits the efficiency of your unit.

If you are having problems with your AC, contact an HVAC business like Edelman Inc.