Basic A/C Maintenance May Include a Refrigerant Charge

Keeping your air conditioner running well through the Northwest Arkansas summer means keeping up with basic maintenance of your A/C. One major part of routine HVAC maintenance includes checking the refrigerant level and getting a refrigerant charge if needed.

Refrigerant refers to the gas that travels through your air conditioner and undergoes phase changes to cool your home. There needs to be a proper amount of refrigerant flowing through the system for it to function correctly. If you have maintenance done on your A/C or there is a leak somewhere, your refrigerant may be low and the efficiency of your system will be dramatically decreased.

There are several signs indicating you may be low on refrigerant:

• Your pipes have an oily coating
• You see ice on the coils of your system
• You have noticed overall low efficiency
• You feel warm air coming from the vents when the A/C is set to cool

A qualified HVAC technician can check your system and determine whether or not it needs a recharge. If this is the case, he will recharge the system by following a process that adds the proper amount of refrigerant to your A/C system. This will allow the system to cool your home without working harder than necessary. It can save you money on your energy bill, prevent the system from completely breaking down, and keep your home cool.

To learn more about maintaining your A/C with a refrigerant charge, get in touch with us at Paschal Heat, Air & Geothermal. Since 1968, we have been proudly serving the Northwest Arkansas area in their heating and air needs.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Springdale, Arkansas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about refrigerant charge and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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