COOLING
This is one of those calls we get almost every week once summer kicks in. The outside unit sounds like it’s running, air is coming out of the vents, but the house just won’t get below 78 degrees. Before you assume the worst, here are the usual suspects — from easiest to most involved.
Check the thermostat first
Sounds silly, but we’ve driven out on service calls just to find a thermostat set to ‘Fan On’ instead of ‘Cool,’ or batteries that died and reset the schedule to 78°F. Confirm it’s in Cool mode, that the setpoint is well below the current indoor temperature, and that the batteries are healthy.
Is the filter clogged?
A plugged filter starves airflow across the indoor coil. With no warm air moving across it, the coil gets so cold that the condensation freezes into a block of ice. At that point, the compressor is still running outside, but almost no air is getting through the coil inside. Pull the filter. If it’s dirty, replace it, then turn the system off for a few hours so the ice can melt. If it cools normally after that, you found your problem.
Look at the outdoor unit
Walk outside and put your hand near the top of the condenser. Air should be blowing straight up and it should feel hot — the unit is trying to dump the heat it pulled out of your house. If the fan isn’t spinning, or the air coming out feels cool, something’s wrong with the outdoor side: a bad capacitor, a stuck contactor, a burned-out fan motor, or a tripped breaker.
Also check the coil itself. If it’s coated in cottonwood, grass, or leaves, it can’t release heat and the whole system loses capacity. A gentle rinse with a garden hose (never a pressure washer — you’ll bend the fins) can make a huge difference.
Check the breaker and the disconnect
Most AC systems have two breakers — one for the indoor air handler and one for the outdoor condenser — plus a disconnect box on the wall near the outdoor unit. Any of those can trip. Reset once. If it trips again, stop and call us; something is drawing too much current and you don’t want to keep resetting it.
Low refrigerant is almost always a leak
Refrigerant doesn’t get ‘used up’ — it’s a closed loop. If you’re low on charge, you have a leak somewhere. A tech can find it with electronic leak detectors and UV dye, repair it, and then recharge the system. Just adding refrigerant without finding the leak is a waste of money; it’ll be gone again in a month or two. And R-410A pricing has gotten steep, so chasing the leak is the right call.
Symptoms of low charge: warm air at the registers even when the system has been running for an hour, ice on the refrigerant line near the indoor coil, or a hissing/gurgling sound near the outdoor unit.
Other things we check on a no-cool call
- Frozen evaporator coil from a failing blower motor.
- Clogged condensate drain that tripped the safety float switch and shut the system down.
- Stuck reversing valve on a heat pump that left it in heating mode.
- Failed compressor — unfortunately, this is usually the most expensive diagnosis, and on older units it often means it’s time to talk about replacement.
Call us when the simple fixes don’t work
If you’ve checked the thermostat, changed the filter, looked at the outdoor unit, and reset the breaker — and it’s still not cooling — stop guessing and call High Caliber Home. We’ll get someone out fast, diagnose the actual problem, and give you a clear price before any work happens. Summer in Lake County is too short to spend sweating in your own living room.