It’s counter-productive now because of the colder weather. It got down to 49 degrees, and I guess the machine can’t convert cold air into cold air. It’s odd how my room is so much colder when it’s been a hot day.
I have a small bedroom, and I turn it on about an hour before I go to bed. Door closed.
This happens in the early warm Spring days. I’ll wake up many times throughout the night, and become delirious, and eventually being so restless (body or mind) I have to get out of bed (and then suffer for 20 hours).
You seem to be saying the AC is not cooling the room, but you don’t say so explicitly. An AC should work more efficiently when it’s cold outside. Your AC may be freezing up if there’s high humidity indoors, so water will condense on the cooling coils, freeze, often coating the temperature sensing element with ice so that the AC thinks it’s plenty cold and doesn’t turn on the compressor.
Typically, when I tell people to check the filter, they get a puzzled look on their faces as they say, “Filter?”
Yes, even window ACs have filters, and if the filter isn’t clean the AC won’t work. A panel typically pops off the front, and you’ll find a sheet of foam rubber that is disgusting. Swish it around in a bucket of sudsy water wuth a drop or two of bleach added, then rinse-rinse-rinse.
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Our rental house has a window A/C that’s older than God’s grandma. The filter is a screen of fine mesh. I take it to the kitchen sink and rinse it with the handheld sprayer. It runs nonstop in a dusty room, so I gotta remember to clean it every couple of weeks.
Thanks for the reminder - it has been at least a month since I’ve cleaned it and even the little lint might make a difference between sleep or no sleep. Thanks again!
P.S. - Someone on another site told me she dumps water on the coils, although its raining here anyway.
Dirt is the usual culprit. Window AC units (and heat pumps) need the evaporator fins (the part of the AC that is outside your window) cleaned periodically. I usually do this twice a year. This is as easy as using a garden hose with a nozzle set to ‘full’. Unplug the AC if your feel nervous about it, but it’s really not necessary. You also need to make sure that the fins are not bent, as this restricts air flow. You can buy a fin comb to straighten them. I would not recommend using anything sharp or using your fingers for this.
High humidity will raise suction pressure and will not cause it to freeze. Humidity (water vapor) is latent heat and the evaporator and the AC system actually wantes to see some humidity. Low on charge, failed blower, dirty filters will cause freezing. High humidity will do the opposite. FYI
Thank you for the response. I did clean the filter out, and around the fins with a duster. I did notice mud (I think) on the fins from the outside. It was raining pretty good, so I didn’t get much of a chance to see do much, but it looks like I’d have to unscrew everything and remove it to clean the fins. I also noticed some pine foliage on the outside from my huge pine tree in the front yard, and I’m sure the rain made it stick.
The smaller window units can easily be removed from the window for servicing. Most appliance repair places will fix them if you bring them the AC. Eliminating a service call saves a lot of money.
The bigger window units usually require sliding the AC out of the case. They’re heavy and it takes two people. The case stays mounted in the window.
I had a large unit that cooled several rooms. I had trouble getting it serviced. HVAC companies didn’t want to mess with it because they normally send only one tech. Mine was mounted high in a wall and required using step ladders. I eventually replaced all my window units with central air.
If I’m reading this right you want the AC to come on when it’s 49 deg out?
My window unit won’t trigger the compressor below 60 degrees. The fan may run but the compressor won’t. It should be looking at room temp but the thermostat operating the unit must be internal and subject to transfer of outside air temps which fool it into thinking it’s cooler inside.
It’s the outside that needs cleaning. If you’re referring to the vent slats as the things you dusted, that has little or nothing to do with the cooling efficiency. If the fins appear to have mud on them, then I’d pull the unit out of the case, take the unit outside, and hose that stuff off. When they’re dirty, the unit will run constantly, but not cool efficiently.
A nitpick. The coil that is outside is the CONDENSER. The* inside* coil is the EVAPORATOR. They both need to stay clean. The filter handles that for the evaporator. The condenser needs the occasional garden hose used carefully so as not to bend the fins.
The evaporator is the cold coil that cools the air in the room or house. The condenser is hot and transfers the heat to the outside. (On a heat pump that is in heating mode, their functions are reversed.)
EXACTLY. Techs, not meaning to, flippantly use the term “air flow” We’re more interested in the heat in the air flow. So among the things that might be reasons for a freeze up:
carpets put over the return
too many closed registers
a dirty evaporator coil
a dirty filter
a failed blower motor
failed capacitor for that motor
failed board
dirty blower wheel
undersized ductwork
Now there a couple other things, but notice the majority of them share in common air flow has been restricted. And, as I’ve said we throw around the term “air flow” because usually there is heat in the air. But really, more accurately, we’re interested in heat/btus.