Have you noticed your air conditioning unit shutting on and off rapidly? If it does this more than 6 times an hour, you may have a problem. This issue is called short-cycling, when your AC never completes a full cooling cycle and damages your air conditioner. With warmer weather well on its way, it’s imperative that you fix any AC problems you have as soon as possible.
What Causes Short Cycling?
A malfunctioning thermostat could cause your system to short cycle by sending it bad signals. Or, your compressor could be to blame. A damaged or faulty compressor will throw off the rhythm of your air conditioner. Lastly, a clogged filter could cause a decrease in airflow and the AC could shut off early to turn back on again a short time later. But how does this all affect your AC?
Short Cycling Causes Excessive Wear and Tear
First off, your AC uses a significant amount of power to turn on each time, so short cycling places stress on the components. Additionally, since your system won’t stay on long enough to distribute sufficient cooling, short cycling will create hot spots in rooms. Your wallet and comfort aren’t all that will suffer though. Your AC unit itself will experience internal damage.
Short cycling causes a dramatic increase in wear and tear, making it more likely that various parts of your AC system will fail. This leads to an increase in repairs until repairs aren’t enough and your entire system breaks down. Air conditioning systems are simply not designed to deal with the stress put on them by constant short cycling.
If you’re experiencing short cycling, give Cowboys Air Conditioning & Heating a call for air conditioning repairs in San Antonio, TX.
