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How to Spot a Refrigerant Leak in Your Air Conditioning

The weather’s still pretty cold here in Brookline, MA, and likely to stay that way for at least a few weeks more. But before you know it, summer will be here, and we recommend that homeowners take a close look at their air conditioner in the next few weeks. If any problems arise, that gives you time to take care of them before you have need of your system. Among the things you should check for are refrigerant leaks, which are not uncommon at the end of a long winter, and which can severely disrupt the functioning of your system if you let it. Here’s a brief list of ways to spot a refrigerant leak in your air conditioning. If you do, turn the system off immediately and call a repair technician.

  • Hissing Sounds. Refrigerant can escape in a number of ways and not all of them leave sounds. Sometimes, however, you’ll notice a hissing or bubbling sounds coming from your system: the sound of the refrigerant escaping from a pinhole leak or something similar.
  • Higher Bills. When refrigerant leaks, the air conditioner isn’t able to work as effectively as it once did. You will likely see your bills spike for no apparent reason, even if you aren’t using the air conditioner any more often than normal.
  • Lower Functioning. Going hand in hand with higher bills is the fact the air conditioner seems to run longer than normal and generally struggles to cool the air as thoroughly. It might not be caused by a refrigerant leak, but it’s still a sign you need to get it checked out.
  • Ice on the Coils. The biggest sign that there’s trouble with your air conditioner is the formation of ice on the evaporator coils, which interferes with the system’s ability to cool the air.

Call Cooling Unlimited today for quality air conditioning repair!

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