Florida residents are lucky to be able to avoid spending money heating their homes for most of the fall and winter, but the tradeoff is sometimes having extra problems with their air conditioner. Here are some of the most common winter air conditioning service issues Cox Air sees and how you can avoid them.
Increased Humidity
Even during the winter, Florida weather remains humid. What many homeowners may not realize is that it’s their air conditioner that removes humidity from their home in the summer. This leads to surprise when their home feels muggy and uncomfortable even though the outside weather is so nice they haven’t run their air conditioner or heater for weeks.
To remove humidity from your home, you can either install a separate dehumidifier or make sure your air conditioner runs for a couple of hours each day even if that means turning down the thermostat.
Icing
In Florida, cold weather frequently means moderate temperatures during the day and chilly temperatures at night. However, as evening temperatures drop, your home often continues to heat up with residual heat from the afternoon sun, people coming home and heating up your oven to cook dinner.
While you may be tempted to turn on your air conditioner for a little while, air conditioners don’t work well when the outside temperature drops below 60. These low temperatures cause the air conditioner to get too cold and to develop ice inside that blocks off the airflow. The only solution is to turn the air conditioner off and open a few windows instead.
Shortened Maintenance Cycles
While people living in northern climates often disconnect and cover their air conditioners for up to 6 months out of the year, Florida residents will almost always need to run their air conditioners at least a few days out of every month. This extra use can lead an air conditioner to need new parts and maintenance sooner than the manufacturer typically projects — just like a high mileage driver would need to bring in their car for maintenance sooner.
To protect your air conditioner from heavy use and to expand its lifespan, schedule regular preventive maintenance visits with Cox Air.