Your air conditioner can be your best friend in the summer. It allows you to keep cool during the summer and will ensure that you can be comfortable as well. When it stops working, it can be a hassle too. When the air conditioner runs for too long, you may wonder if this is hard on the system or if it will be fine.
When you run your air conditioner for too long, it can cause several problems, HVAC expert, 24/7 AC Repair Conroe explains. They are experienced in handling HVAC repair in Conroe, Texas.
This could drive up your electricity bill for all the work the unit is doing, it could make the system overwork too much so that it leads to a breakdown and it can signal there is a bigger problem because the unit is not able to keep up with all of the work. Paying attention to the unit and turning the temperature up a few degrees can help it last a lot longer.
Let’s take a closer look at what will happen when you decide to run the AC unit all the time and some of the issues that this can cause over the long term.
How Long Should I Run My AC Each Day?
When the weather is warm or really humid, you may find that the average air conditioner is going to run for 15 to 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, it should be cool enough in. your home for the unit to turn itself off. When you want to get the temperature down quite a bit after it heats up, then it could take a few minutes longer, but not much.
Your air conditioner will then rest for a bit once it reaches that cool temperature. You should not hear it for a bit until the temperature starts to rise past the setting you put it on. It will then turn on again and can repeat the cycle all day and night. Depending on the time of day and how hot it is outside, this can happen often or just a few times during the day.
However, when the temperatures get hot outside and reach into the 90s or higher, then it is possible that the unit is going to run more often to help keep up and help your home stay cool. In some cases, it is possible that the unit is not going to turn off. For the most part, it is fine for the conditioner to do this.
While it is not necessarily a bad thing for the air conditioner to run this much during the day, it may not be the ideal situation either. Some of the reasons that it may not be a good idea to leave the AC running for too long include:
- It is going to make the electricity bill go up. The longer the air conditioner is running, the harder it is on your utility bill. This is why we see that bill go up during the really warm and the really cold months.
- It could overwork the system. When the system runs that hard, it can be really difficult to keep it going for a long time. Eventually, this could lead to a bigger problem.
- If it is running often and it is not that hot outside, this could be a sign that there is a much bigger problem that you need to fix.
It is a good idea to try and get the air conditioner to run as little as possible. Be careful with the temperature that you set it at and do the right maintenance to ensure that your system is going to last for a long time.
What Problems Could Make the System Run Too Long?
While your AC could run too much when you are dealing with a hot day, there are other issues that you need to consider as well. Some of the issues include:
- The filter is too full. This can make it hard for the air to get through.
- The coils are dirty: The evaporator coils are responsible for pulling the moisture and heat out of the air before it gets into the home. When they are frozen, dirty, or broken, it is harder to keep the home cool.
- The unit is too small for the home: It is going to work a lot harder when the unit is not big enough to cool the home.
- You need a tune-up on the unit. You may need to have a quick tune-up of the machine to make sure it is in good working order on occasion.
Your air conditioner is an important part of the whole system and you need to provide it with the best care possible to ensure that it will keep you cool in the summer. Check out some of the main reasons why the AC unit is running too much and see what you can do to keep it down to a minimum.