Charlotte has long, hot summers and winters that are cool enough to require heating. That means every office, business, and residential building needs the same thing in Charlotte: HVAC. And Charlotte HVAC needs to be reliable. However, every once in a while, something will go wrong and when it does, your staff or residents need it fixed immediately – especially in summer. Here are five of the most common Charlotte HVAC problems, with their solutions:
1. The filter is dirty – There’s no shame in forgetting to change the filter or filters on your HVAC system, but it does cause problems. If the heat is no longer hot or the AC is no longer cool, the first thing to check is the filter. A clogged filter reduces the system’s efficiency and can even cause it to freeze up or shut off. Replacing the filter is a cheap, easy fix.
2. Different rooms get different temperatures – This is the most common HVAC complaint, especially in large offices. Why are some rooms freezing and others too warm? Usually it’s a problem with the dampers. Most ducts have dampers where they branch off into individual rooms so that the airflow can be adjusted. Rooms that naturally get more sun, or are higher up in the building, should get more airflow during the warm season and less in the winter. Adjusting the dampers will fix most unequal heating or cooling problems.
3. Broken thermostat – A faulty thermostat can cause the entire HVAC system to fail, but nothing expensive is broken. A new thermostat is usually under $50 and, when installed, the HVAC will kick on like normal. In some cases, the thermostat just needs new batteries. When your HVAC fails, checking the thermostat should be one of the first things you do.
4. Breakers/blown fuses – Sometimes a breaker trips, shutting the HVAC system off. Check the circuit breaker panel and reset any that are flipped. If the breakers are all on, it’s often a blown fuse in the system itself. You should call Real Cool Heating and Air for this, but it won’t be an expensive service call. If the breakers keep tripping, however, call our technicians right away—there may be a much more serious problem.
5. Freon leak! – If your heat works but your AC doesn’t, the AC may be running out of coolant (Freon). That means there’s a leak somewhere. Don’t worry, small amounts of Freon aren’t toxic—but you will need one of our Charlotte HVAC professionals to find and repair the leak in a hurry.
What’s the biggest problem you’ve ever had with HVAC? How did you fix it?
