What Causes an AC to Short Cycle?

There are certain problems that you could ignore with your air conditioning system — though we want to make clear that no problem, no matter how minor you may think it is, should ever be ignored! If your air conditioner is making a strange sound but still running fine, for instance, you may be tempted to just let it continue working in that state (though we warn you that repairs will likely be only a short way down the road).

Other issues are impossible for even the most stubborn of us to ignore, though. For instance, if your air conditioner is short cycling, you are probably going to be contacting a professional technician right away. Hopefully, you won’t run into this issue, as it can be quite disruptive, but the good news is that there may not be a very serious problem at the root of the situation. The fact that there could be, however, does necessitate prompt and professional air conditioning repairs in Henderson, NV.

What Exactly Is Short Cycling?

An air conditioner does not run constantly, nor does it cool a home down as much as it possibly can, then take a few hours off until the house is unbearably hot once more. A properly sized and properly operating air conditioner is going to run in even, complete cycles. This helps to bring the temperature down and to keep in check throughout the day.

An air conditioner that is short cycling, on the other hand, starts up but then runs only briefly. After shutting down prematurely, it will start up again — after all, it has not actually completed its task. Trouble, then it shuts down again quickly. Then starts back up. And then — well, you get the idea. Not only is this issue very annoying, but it can lead to a number of problems.

• Discomfort. As you can imagine, an air conditioner behaving in this way is not going to cool your home as effectively as it should.
• Increased wear and tear. When the system starts and stops so frequently, that is really going to take a toll on its overall condition.
• Reduced energy efficiency. What’s worse than less comfort? Paying more for less! Short cycling drives up energy costs, too.

So What Causes It?

If there is a silver lining in all of this, it is that the problem may be very simple to fix. You may not even actually need air conditioning repairs. A common cause of short cycling is actually just a very dirty air filter. The dirty air filter will restrict airflow to the point that the system will start to overheat as it tries to cool your home. When that happens, it will shut down to prevent damages. Changing the air filter can resolve the problem in this case.

However, you could also have problems in need of repair. Faulty system controls, for instance, or even a refrigerant leak. If the refrigerant in your system is low, it will struggle to remove a sufficient amount of heat from the air passing over the evaporator coil. Serious compressor damage can result if you continue to run a system in this condition, which is why you cannot roll the dice and simply hope for a best case scenario. Contact Goettl Air Conditioning Las Vegas if your system is short cycling.

G-O-E-T-T-L it’ll keep you cool but it’s hard to spell.