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jbnbham

No air coming out of A/C vents in house

jbnbham
14 years ago

Being a new homeowner, this is the first time we have had to use tha A/C in the house. I found there is no air at all coming out of the vents, even though the system itself seems to be working fine. A few facts:

* Outside unit is running; in fact, the line froze from the unit to the siding. I turned the unit off today to allow it to thaw, which it did, but still issues.

* Electric air, gas heat. In the attic the furnace lies next to the air ducts, there is a switch on the wall that turns the furnace and A/C off.

* There was cold air "leaking" from the side of the furnace, which seemed odd to me at least.

* The house sat for a year without being occupied, so I wonder if the vent is somehow blocked.

I read somewhere it could be the air handler. I admit I am a noob to owning an A/C unit, and although I have been successful at fixing other issues around the house as they have arised - many times figuring stuff out as I go - this one has me stumped. Any advice would be appreciated. I am pretty sure the answer is either really simple or really expensive.

Thanks!

Jeremy

Comments (10)

  • paulbm
    14 years ago

    In one place you said you had gas heat and then you talk about a air handler.
    So do you have air added to your furnace, or do you have a separate air handler
    for your air con. If you have a furnace and a separate air-handler for air con,
    are they on the same duct system, Maybe they put a manual damper in there some place that you have to change to go to air con. I have seen silly things like that done. Later paulbm

  • troys
    14 years ago

    Check to see if the blower is coming on. Units use 2 speeds for the blower motor one for cooling and one for heating,unless it is a heat pump. If the blower is not running then either the motor is out or the circuit board.

  • brickeyee
    14 years ago

    Sounds like the evaporator coil may have frozen up with ice.
    It will block the airflow very nicely.

    Have an AC technician come and check the system out.
    Ask neighbors for recommendations.

    The system could very well be low on refrigerant.

    Do not try and run it, especially if ice is forming al the way to the outside compressor.
    If refrigerant liquid gets back to the compressor it will be destroyed.

  • troys
    14 years ago

    If it freezes right after it starts it is a airflow issue not freon unless the coil is already frozen. If it takes several minutes or hours then it is probally a charge issue.

  • scotkight
    14 years ago

    Or the humidity could be VERY high, or you have an open window or three (combined with high humidity). Or the drain from the evaporator could be blocked.

    Turn on the fan, but leave AC off to melt ice off the evaporator and make sure all of your windows and doors are closed. Some newbies (myself included) have left a few windows open before while trying to get the heat out, and turn on ac to get the temp down. That combo doesn't really work well :)

    Make sure you see water trickling out of the drain. If not, thats a problem. If the piping feels lukewarm (not hot or cold, depending on where you touch it) something ain't right.

  • brickeyee
    14 years ago

    "Or the humidity could be VERY high..."

    A correctly operating system should still not be frosint to the condenser.

    An open window might limit cooling, but the drop across the coil (and air flow) should still be there.

  • donniehvac
    14 years ago

    First things first folks. Check the air filter, it could be plugged. Frozen coils come from these things: dirty air filter, low refrigerant levels, inadequate airflow (motor failure, motor ineffiency, blower wheel problems). That's pretty much it. The filter you can check yourself. Refrigerant levels, motor/ blower issues should be taken care of by a reputable service company. Good luck.

  • trod0214
    13 years ago

    I live in a double-wide home. I have noticed that not all the vents are blowing out air. Some rooms with vents have the air coming out pretty good and other rooms hardly have or don't have any air coming out at all. Can anyone help?

  • izzysremodeling_aol_com
    12 years ago

    unit freezes up over nite or at cooler temps, but will run all day without any probs when its hot, pessures are fine freon is fine filter is clean fan working properly, any help would be great thanks in advance

  • dsyauger_att_net
    12 years ago

    Thank you donniehvac!!! I followed your suggestion on checking the filter and turns out, it was very dirty. I'm very good about changing the filter monthly but I guess I underestimated how much dirt had accumulated. I turned off the AC altogether for about 4 hrs to let the unit thaw out. Turned it back on and ta-da!!! I had cool air again!!! You saved me what could have been a costly service call. It pays to research the web before calling for service. Thank you again!!

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