When it turned on my air conditioner for the first time this spring, I noticed that I had a problem.
Although the unit was on almost all of the time, the house wasn’t getting very cool.
I looked up what might be the issue online and found everything from it just needing more liquid in the compressor lines to possibly needing a whole new unit. Of course, I jumped to the worst case scenario and called an HVAC company and had them send out a worker right away. I followed the technical around as he inspected everything. Then he went under the house while I waited outside. When he crawled out from under the house he informed me that my ventilation ducts were leaking badly. I hadn’t found that possibility when I had researched the issue myself so he explained it to me. Apparently there are a series of large pipes that channel the cool air from the air conditioner to the my floor vents. These pipes are connected with screws, tape, and rubber. As the house shifts and settles and ages, these pipes can become separated. The technician said he just had to go back under and seal up the ductwork and maybe replace some of it. He said that this problem has probably been there for years and I just noticed it now. But that once the ducts were sealed up, I would notice a huge change in the production of my air conditioner. He wasn’t lying, once he was done, it felt like I had a brand new system.