As more people start to rely on their air conditioners on a daily basis, some of you are going to start noticing ice forming on your air conditioner. This may seem like a good thing, but in fact it is a pretty serious problem that needs addressing. Let’s take a look at why ice actually forms on your air conditioner, and what to do about it.
The Evaporator Coil
The primary location for air conditioner ice is the evaporator coil. This is the part that keeps evaporating refrigerant to siphon heat from the air. If the refrigerant level gets low, however, typically from a leak in the system, the temperature of the evaporator coil will drop. This causes the coil to freeze over. Once the coil freezes over, it will be unable to siphon heat from the air. This causes your air conditioner output to drop significantly. If not cleaned off of the coil as quickly as possible, the ice can actually damage the coil to the point where it needs replacing.