One of the big benefits of having a serviced air conditioning system in your home is that it is supposed to cool your entire home. When you discover that your system is only cooling certain parts of your home, whether it be that some rooms are getting no air at all or that some rooms are simply getting cooler than others, it can be disappointing.
It can make those rooms uncomfortable to be in, and you might find that you start to reduce the amount of time you spend in those rooms.
There are a number of reasons why this might be happening ranging from an old air filter to simply having too small of unit. Here are some of the most common reasons that your AC unit is only cooling certain areas of your home:
1. A clogged air filter is preventing cool air from being pushed into your rooms
This is the cause of most air conditioning issues. When your filter is clogged with dirt and dust, it will prevent air from being pushed through your ducts into your rooms. Only the rooms closest to your system will get any cool air—the system will just have to work too hard to get the cooled air to any other rooms of your house. It might actually take so long for the air to get to those farther rooms that it is no longer cool.
2. Your system is too big or too small for your home
Many home owners who choose their own air conditioning systems pick one that is too big or too small for their size of home.
It might sound find to have a system that is too large, but a too large system will actually switch on and off repeatedly, likely never being on long enough to actually push the cooled air into all of the rooms of your home.
A system that is undersized will simply not be powerful enough to create enough cool air for your home or to push it to the farthest rooms, no matter how long it runs.
3. Your evaporator coils are dirty
If the coils inside of your system that actually cool the air are crusted in dust, dirt, or bacteria, they will not be able to properly cool your home. This is another very common problem and something that few home owners consider when they realize that their system is not effectively cooling their home.
A simple solution is to take a hose with a spray attachment and spray off your AC unit before you turn it on for the first time. If you are wary of doing this, hire a professional to come and assess and clean your unit before the warm season begins.
4. Your fan motor is not working properly
Almost every air conditioning unit uses a fan to circulate the cooled air into the ducts of your home. If your fan is not working correctly, your system can be efficiently cooling air, but not actually distributing it well into the ducts of your home. The rooms nearest your system might get cooled simply because the cooled air has to go somewhere as the unit continues to run, but the rooms farther away from the unit will remain warm. You’ll notice that only a few rooms are getting cool and that even though you hear your unit running, you still have many warm spots in your house.
