Why will my air conditioner not cool my apartment?

Question

I live in Texas and it is July. Because of the high electricity bills I do not run my A/C during the day. I get home about 5 pm and then turn it on.

I just replaced the air filter today and still, it is not cooling. I have set it to 75 and the temperature in my apartment is reading 90. I have fans trying to circulate what little A/C is blowing.

It just keeps running and never shuts off.

Help what should I do? I know if it continuously runs it is not helping me with the electricity either.

Answer 1

It may have run out of coolant fluid.  This happened to us.  Have a repairman look at it.  Your pores will thank you.

Answer 2

I would first see if it is actually cooling.

Check the temperature coming out of the registers.

Also check the temperature of the air going into the return grille, there should be 15 - 20 degrees F cooler coming out than going in.

If that's OK you need to keep it operating even when your not home to keep the humidity down. I would just turn the temp up higher while you were gone. These units are not sized to cool a home down in a couple of hours.

If its not dropping the air temp then you need someone qualified to look at it for possible cleaning or repairs.

Answer 3

if its not blowing cold air i would contact your renter and have him fix it.

other things to help keep it cool is try to keep it dark, try not to use the oven, and at night open the windows with a fan running.

Answer 4

Believe it or not, it actually costs you more to turn it off during the day than if you let it run.

The biggest job that an A/C unit has is to take and keep out as much humidity as it can. That alone does more for the cooling process than anything.

If it is a wall-mounted or window air you can clean it yourself. If that doesn't work then it is a freon problem.

If you have to do it yourself, do this.

1. Get as much of the casing off as you can get off to be able to get to all of the coils.

2. Soak them all down with Mean Green. Let it soak in for a few minutes.

3. Spray it all out with hot water until the water runs clean.

4. If you still see some dirt in there repeat steps 1 - 3.

5. Put the unit back together and enjoy the cool.

If this doesn't work, it has to be a freon leak or low freon.

Note: To get hot water out to the A/C, hook it to a laundry sink or the nozzle at the bottom of your water heater.

I hope this helps.