{"id":450,"date":"2020-06-29T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-29T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/?p=450"},"modified":"2025-01-03T07:29:25","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T12:29:25","slug":"does-ac-need-refrigerant-refill-probably-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/air-conditioning-service\/does-ac-need-refrigerant-refill-probably-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Your AC Need a Refrigerant Refill? Probably Not!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"air-conditioner-unit-being-repaired\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

If you ever hear a so-called “HVAC technician” tell you that it’s time to give your air conditioner a refrigerant refill, run the other direction as fast as you can! This technician either has no idea what they’re talking about or they’re trying to pull a fast one on you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, people are often confused about how\nrefrigerant in an air conditioning system works. They often assume that\nrefrigerant is a type of fuel and the AC will eventually run low on it. Like an\nautomobile, it needs to have more fuel put in to keep it going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn’t how refrigerant works at all. An AC may at some\npoint require more refrigerant, but this is a repair<\/em>, not a regular\ntask. We’ll explain below to help you understand when you may need more\nrefrigerant, and why most of the time you won’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Refrigerant is not a fuel source<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What powers your air conditioner? If you answered\n“electricity,” you’re right. The refrigerant moving through the air\nconditioner isn’t what powers it, and the air conditioner does not use it up.\nThe job of refrigerant is heat exchange<\/em>, which is how the AC moves heat\nfrom inside a house and releases it outside. Refrigerant is a blend of\nchemicals that can easily change between liquid and gaseous states. As it shifts\nbetween these states by evaporating and condensing, it absorbs heat in one\nplace and releases it in another. During this process, none of the refrigerant\ndissipates. It should remain at its original level (known as the air\nconditioner’s charge<\/em>) for the lifecycle of the AC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too much refrigerant is bad news<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Adding refrigerant to an air conditioner that already has its correct factory-set charge will damage the system. An overcharged air conditioner will increase pressure in the system and threaten the compressor with a breakdown due to “back slugging” (when the liquid refrigerant flows the wrong direction into the compressor). This is the danger that an amateur may pose to your AC if they try to “top-off” the refrigerant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refrigerant can be lost to leaks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When will you need refrigerant added to the AC? If the air conditioner begins to leak. Small holes along the copper refrigerant lines will allow the refrigerant to escape and lower the system’s charge. This is also extremely damaging to the AC and will eventually make the compressor overheat. If you notice a decline in your AC’s performance or notice ice along the indoor coil, call immediately for air conditioning repair in Akron, OH<\/a>. Expert technicians will be able to locate the refrigerant leaks, seal them, and then restore the amount of refrigerant that was lost so the system has its correct charge restored. This is a basic repair for our professionals, but it’s an essential one–please don’t delay calling us for assistance, or you may end up with an air conditioner that needs to be replaced rather than repaired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have NATE and EPA-certified technicians to handle repairs. Note that only certified technicians are permitted to work with refrigerant. If you suspect refrigerant leaks or related issues, it\u2019s important to understand why your AC might be leaking refrigerant<\/a> to address the root cause quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odd sounds can also indicate a refrigerant issue or other underlying AC problems. Be aware of sounds your air conditioner should not make<\/a> to catch potential repairs early and avoid costlier damage to your system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call Crown Group Ohio when you need air conditioning repairs.<\/a> Comfort Experts since 1963.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An AC may at some point require more refrigerant, but this is a repair, not a regular task. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[91,90],"class_list":["post-450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-conditioning-service","tag-air-conditioning-system-repair","tag-akron"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1103,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions\/1103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crowngroupohio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}