What to do when air conditioner freezes up: Air conditioner tips for summer

In this video we share what to do when air conditioner freezes up.
One of our air conditioner tips for summer is knowing what to do when you have a frozen evaporator coil, or a frozen air conditioner. A frozen air conditioner is a common air conditioner problem and you can help yourself by first turning everything off. You need to get the ice off the coil in order to fix the problem with your air conditioner. If your air conditioner is not blowing cold air, it could be a frozen coil so after you confirm that your coil is frozen and you turn everything off, you should change your furnace air filter. Air flow is a common air conditioner problem and could cause your air conditioner to freeze. You should also have a professional air conditioner tune up to check to make sure you have a proper refrigerant charge. You should also check to make sure something is not stuck on.
These air conditioner tips for summer will help you save on an air conditioner repair and know what to do when air conditioner freezes up. If you keep a clean air filter and maintain a proper refrigerant change to your air conditioner. We also explain more about why does your air conditioner freeze up and more helpful air conditioner information for homeowners from One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning.
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[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Thanks for watching! Have you ever had ice on your coil? Keeping your filter clean will help greatly!

[@mytube3687]

I have similar problem .Thanks for nice video, I have a Panasonic split ac withR22, when I switch on and set temperature to example 24 c the unit keeps works below 24 c continuesly ( compressor on). When I switch off and leave the unit on standby mode the indoor unit freeze ( making ice).what could be a problem?

[@Pivot-99]

I had a situation in my last apartment where everyone shut all the vents except myself. Obviously two days later the system was completely frozen in a solid block of ice. Well now I’ve been in a new apartment for two weeks and every vent is open. I noticed the system was no longer blowing any air because it was starting to freeze over. We have managed to keep the system feom freezing but it is not blowing cool air. What kind of symptom is this?

[@matthewmoody277]

When youre right your right! My coil is a block of ice like you wouldnt believe!

[@pornstarlivesmatter3319]

ARE YOU GUYS IN OHIO....LOL

[@marleyaxton123]

I guess Im randomly asking but does any of you know of a tool to log back into an instagram account..? I was stupid lost the login password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me

[@chadrob8384]

This is exactly my issue. The ac condenser is running, the blower is running and no air flow through the vents. I figured out myself that it was more than likely a frozen A coil. I then surmised that I should turn off the ac but run the blower to thaw out the coil. Then I came across this video and it could have saved me three hours of trouble shooting after working a 14hr day. Great content, wish me luck with letting this work and God bless.

[@andrewsheehan1124]

Excellent video and summary of actions for a A/C freezing up.

[@chachita176]

I love the father-daughter discussion format. Their dynamic was not only super helpful but calming during a very stressful moment when I needed it the most and as I know nothing about HVAC - admittedly just a homeowner with no expertise in this area. Being a weekend evening, it’s not like I can call a HVAC company and especially as we’ve had a heatwave week they’re likely to be booked anyway. And of course there’s always the worry of repair cost. Andrea broke it down for us by asking the clarifying questions that she knows would aid typical customers. And I appreciated that both Ramon and Andrea pointed out junctures where one can pause and see if the suggestions would negate the actual need for a pro. In my case, I finally noticed by evening that my downstairs level was really struggling all day to be cooled. I went to the finished basement (where the AC/furnace unit is) and to my horror finding parts of the carpet soaked. Then my eyes followed the symptom to a partially frozen pipe. Thereafter, when I tried to take out the old air filter, I found that it had somehow become disfigured. Couldn’t understand why at first but it’s likely that it initially got dirty and caused the problem itself. Then the AC freezing/melting began and the trickling water got the filter frame wet, resulting in the changed shape, causing a slight jam. I’m currently at the phase of running the fan only overnight. After implementing the first couple of steps mentioned before it, the coils are already thawing at this moment. I have to wait for the thawing and flooding of the basement floor to cease. I hope I’m back to normal tomorrow AC-wise! The carpet can be dried later. Pls keep fingers crossed for me! Thank you so much for putting out this video!

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Wow thank you so much for the amazing compliment! I am so happy we were able to help and I hope everything is working well for you today.

[@AliMahmoudjr]

Did it end up fixing itself?

[@reneewilliams554]

Hello, I'd like to know too. I am having the same problem with my outside unit.

[@hadassahjoseph9877]

Thank you for getting straight to the point

[@Sistagirl305]

Thank you so much for this video. Followed your instruction to a tee and unit working just fine now.

[@minhtrinh2524]

Many thanks SIR for providing good tips to take care frozen AC issues. I'll try it.

[@KMHrock89]

Thank you so much. Our air went out on literally the 4th of July once so my family knew we were hurting, got that problem fixed. Our air quit working again today (thank goodness in spring not the heat of summer) so we feared the worst but saw that the coils were frozen. I think my problem is dirty air filter (it’s a weird Jerry-rigged situation, I’m probably going to build a box for a legit air filter over the return) but we may have a tech come check our Freon level just in case. Very educational video, thanks again. Liked!

[@vc9607]

Thank you sooo much for your expertise it helped us greatly 😊 we won’t forget to change the filter again!!

[@1Classylee]

Wow!!!😮😮 I live in an apartment and this is a new unit!! The filter is even iced up. I am waiting for the thaw!!! Thank you for a well informative video!!!

[@brentkevern]

This was really good and something I've bumped into before. Given all the vendors our family works with over time, easily you all are the best. Super professional, always on time, always get the problems resolved in a friendly manner.

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Thanks Brent, that's so nice of you to say! We appreciate your business and glad we could help!

[@kevinbright3080]

North Carolina split system. Iced up evaporator (inside A coil). Not a filter issue. Not a refrigerant issue. Was told my condenser(outside unit with fan on top) was a 3 ton system and didnt have proper ventilation inside at the A coil.

[@johnwibbels4678]

I love how us as humans can communicate. The idea all we are talking about is a air conditioner system. We need to communicate with each other in a way of helping each other. Good and honest care and concern nice video

[@EricPardo]

Thanks from Bethesda, MD!

[@ironmanxrp4980]

very very helpful and straight forward information. Thank you!

[@lynntunes]

THANK YOU! I’ll check all these things!!!

[@bballerforever]

This all makes sense and corresponds with my conclusions as a non-HVAC expert. I had two HVAC guys come out already and NEITHER checked or even mentioned the evap coil! Instead they said the Nest thermostat needed to be rewired, which did absolutely nothing to improve the situation. Thank you!

[@mikelarry410]

I had the same issue! They said my second new Nest is the issue

[@sniffles8655]

Sounds familiar. That is why I spent a long time learning how to do it all myself. You have to have a license to buy Freon/refrigerants, boards, motors, and all, but you can order it all online without one. 😁

[@vinnyv5717]

Thank you great advice. Vince

[@GoodVibeTribe]

You two are awesome! Thanks so much for the practical step by step in plain English.

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Happy to help!

[@saifhussainmohammed7054]

Really helpful, I searched ice found in AC and I was directed to this video. 😇😇

[@brendacardenas1420]

Omg September 22/22 My ac unit gave that problem check my air filter I vacum the grill it had Lira if dust put new filter resolved the problem thank you so much your Hispanic follower!!

[@transporter6254]

This one was nice! Our aircon metal filter freezes so I hope this tips will work

[@mhill2468]

So glad I watched this one! Best video of everything that’s out there I’ve seen so far

[@jstevens74]

Thank you! Clean filter but must be the wrong one, air flow issue. I removed it and it's fixed. Thanks so much, again!

[@tahomalewis2300]

A friend sent me to your page, and I did exactly what you said and now the house is cooling down! Thanks for making this video 😊

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Great! I’m so glad it helped!

[@NIYA-7]

Didn’t work for us. 😔

[@mikeyc4525]

I love your video. I'm having these issues. I keep having water leaking from the ceiling, where now I know from your video, what the problem is. The landlord has had the AC people out here at least 3 times to address issues with the system, but it still freezes up. I'm 70 years old and my roommate is 74 years old. I have copd and my roommate has heart issues. Yesterday here in Oklahoma it was 107 heat index. I don't understand why these AC guys can't fix the problem? Your information was helpful.

[@jshel4892]

Outstanding! The info you provided was on point. I did everything that you both mentioned, and my AC responded in kind..It took about 2 hours to get my AC back in running order....Thanks again 🙃 we slept well 😴 😇🤑🫡

[@Genob69]

It was a dirty filter in my case. Thank so much you!!! 🙏

[@theForrestGalantey]

Best people and advice. You guys saved me tons, thank you!

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Happy to help!

[@Jskins]

Thanks for the great video advice!

[@transporter6254]

Exactly! Right here in our bedroom, right now at 10: 00 pm bruh I need this tips thank you

[@baileylooper2908]

Thank you so much, super helpful!

[@kadel05]

My house is a furnace right now and putting your methods to the rest wish me luck!

[@dekelsey1]

This is the best video I have seen on this topic. I suspect I have installed too dense of filter, anti-allergen. That's the only thing I changed and I can't get really cold air out of the system and it blows weakly now.

[@ysaysa]

I’m struggling with this now. I went from a perfectly cool home (69) and changed the filter to MERV 11 allergen reducer and the next day my home wont go below 76. I removed the filter and turned off my system. Hoping this will resolve it. Ugh.

[@peaplecreative]

Great video, straight to it and easy to understand. Thank you for doing this. 👍

[@cromanxx1]

Very helpful and informative discussion.

[@benfix]

This was a great video. Wish everything I researched was like this.

[@azildaneil8156]

Thank you so much God bless you

[@someguyfrommemphis]

Great video. Minor ice here. Blower on, system off. Going to melt the ice and put in a new filter (we're overdue)! Thanks for the tips!! 🤞

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Glad it helped!

[@carreon1081]

How to turn on the blower

[@inix9748]

Great video!! I noticed some ice in the coils, not a large portion. Checked the filter, it was fine. So, maybe the issue is the refrigerant level. Time to call a technician?

[@ideal9814]

Thanks for the tips!!!

[@inversionproduction]

Thank you, thank you,thank you, My daughter thought she heard water inside where the filter is (yes it was dirty) did what you said, put the fan on and you can hear the water come out the back flow and I can feel the air blowing stronger as it thaws.Thanks so much!!🙏🏾

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

You are so welcome! I'm happy to help!

[@nxdita]

I turned the thermostat to 80 and then turned the fan on and within 2 10 minutes the block of ice started to thaw and the ac was cooling! Thank you so much for your help!!

[@maduenodiego]

👍

[@TheProphet-gc1pt]

Thank you guyss sooo much. I'm sure I'm low on R22. It's discontinued so it's very expensive so I'll have to buy a brand new Unit. Eventually. So I may get a pound of refrigerant to cool the house for a while until i can get a new unit. But My air filter was stuck in the vent. So I'm gonna free that as well. Once the ice cools i think i will get some air flow but this video was a God send thanks you so much you and your daughter.

[@mirror318808ify]

Thank you!

[@Max-ti5nq]

Love the work in tandem of you two. Thanks for the info.

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Thank you it is our pleasure!

[@michaelboutililer4880]

Very helpful and informative. Thank you

[@thewzrdharry]

Super helpful. Thank you

[@mariahp.6993]

The very best! Thank you!

[@kennethdandurand3472]

Succinct, except maybe turning on the heater to make it melt faster. One of the better videos I have seen.

[@teddlemmon2599]

Thanks very helpful 👍

[@CindyAsselstine]

Thank you for the help!

[@markanthonygrant]

Great info. Thanks.

[@toddsadler4199]

Fabulous help. Thank you.

[@MattGOG666]

This video was so incredibly helpful I can't even thank you enough

[@4sho910]

Thank you guys

[@NateWinters27]

Thank you I’m about to try this now!

[@smoton2]

My filters are in need of changing I came home last night and it was hot in the house. Not sure if it was ice, but the air is back on. So I'll be changing the filters.

[@dimwitsadvocate6264]

A very interesting video! Now I know a few things to look for.

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lunabee9606]

Very helpful!! Thank you🥰🥰🥰

[@aaronlive15]

Great info!! Thanks

[@spiritcreek9813]

Thank you great video.

[@justinhubbard5013]

Very helpful video thank you

[@manuelfelipejr2723]

It help so much for me.more vedio tips..thanks a lot ..God bless you...

[@ConOp-Experiment.]

Thank you so much!!!!❤

[@deataol]

Very helpful thanks

[@mikesalles]

This video helped me solve a problem, thank you so much!

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Glad it helped!

[@zewk9395mgk]

This helped my current situation

[@gypsyhayes5954]

Thank you. Thank you.

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

You are very welcome

[@anneeastaway2311]

Thank you

[@ericalewis9262]

She's right that was very helpful

[@rbljackson]

Yep...explained my situation exactly. Troubleshot. AC wasnt cooling but running, noticed poor airflow at the vents. Pulled the A Coil Cover and its a block of ice. Filter wasnt too dirty, but we will put a new one in and see what happens after the thaw.

[@slowjamcdub]

How did it go?

[@downfall7125]

Thank you 1st time this happened to me

[@TOMRYANLUKE]

Thank you for this video.

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Glad it was helpful!

[@sirmuff01]

Thank you🙏🙏🙏

[@CoachCraigKenneth]

Very helpful video

[@21CryBaby]

Purchased for my RV best investment this year, noise level not bad it's in my bedroom window, my mounted tv is above it I have no problem enjoying a movie while it is on.

[@manuelsantos8213]

Great video and easy to understand , thank you

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Glad it helped!

[@anthonyhernandez3952]

Awesome video!

[@Sean-Aviation]

excellent video! What can cause an AC to run low on refrigerant? is it normal overtime to fill it up?

[@victorretiguin9644]

Thanks

[@lorimchair2190]

Great info! Thank You!!

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

Glad to help!

[@tyecurtis7228]

Good video. Thanks for providing valuable info. Even cowboys need air condition! Greatest thing ever invented .

[@qmerk2661]

thanks guys! very helpful

[@TheAirOfAuthority]

No problem!

[@bballerforever]

Capacitor? I had a 3rd HVAC guy come out and he said the capacitor was most likely malfunctioning and replaced it for $100 parts + &210 eval visit. It is located in the compressor unit outside, a metal cylindrical object w 3 wire attachments. That seems to have solved my problem of the a/c barely blowing non-cool air when it’s the hottest outside. I checked the blower unit in my attic and the evaporative coils looked OK, not too dirty and not frozen. But the drip pan looked not too clean, I’ll sanitize it on another day.

[@DetroitHomeInspector]

Great video. Can I use your video on how to train home inspectors on this issue?

[@manuelfelipejr2723]

Thanks for sharing vedios .more tips sir.

[@frankmontez6853]

Yeah mine has a lot of wires makes it look kinda hard clean blower which is filthy . . I wonder if I can use compressed air from my pancake compressor to blow it out ? For now , cleaned it best as I could without removing it .My Ac not cooling and blower is weak not full power and two lines were frozen since yesterday . And after turning on for a few minutes blower gets hot and shuts off , I turned off since yesterday allowing those frozen lines to thaw out . My evap coils are sitting on top of furnace

[@bev7236]

Clean filter but outside lines frozen. Turned off, ran fan till thawed and everything works fine until.. it freezes all over again and we repeat the thawing process. Not sure what's going on?

[@bev7236]

Update for anyone who may have same issue: Looks like we had a refrigerant leak, as was the best guess from the tech. The tech filled us up for free on some refrigerant and everything works great now, better than all summer and it's been in the 90's this week. We opted to buy a new unit to be installed soon since ours was almost 17 years old and coils severely rusty and the R22 refrigerant is not made anymore.

[@1234pi95]

@@bev7236 I’m having the same issue I’m trying to air filter thing right now roughly how much did it cost you to have the tech come

[@bev7236]

@@1234pi95 They didn't charge us because we bought a new unit from them but I think it was supposed to be $120 to diagnose, refrigerant was expensive but they filled us up for free until they could install new unit.

[@NewsNowLIVE1]

You have too large of a unit for your size house, and not enough return air vents. You’re welcome.

[@juniorromero2078]

r22 refrigerant is still made incase of needing it for old units like yours but on the new units they use something else that substitutes the r22 because of safety precautions of the atmosphere

[@Gumbo72203]

For window units, if we turn it to FAN and put the speed on high, will that blow air through the frozen coil the same way you mention the blower here for an HVAC system?

[@adrianthompson5633]

My dad's upstairs AC suddenly stopped working and it's in the 80's now. The thing is, it was blowing cold for weeks and this happened. It's been going back and forth

[@joecalabrese8979]

Had an AC guy come out to do a standard check of system after a year. He put thermostat at 62 to kick the system on to run the test. He didn’t put temperature back to the temp we had it at (70). Because of that our AC was trying to hit 62 for almost two days without us noticing because we have the fan always running. Low and behold it was now not reaching our desired temp. Our coils froze. So I turned my system off and now there’s a bunch of water coming out from our what appears to be above the furnace. What do I do?

[@dvillebenny1445]

thx

[@ps_ultra1007]

Thanks👍

[@DN-ps4bn]

It depends on what the size of your unit is ! Heavily ! My Ac thawed out in 40 minutes. (Window unit). That’s crazy. I fixed it myself and I’m on the verge of cryin 😭. Y’all know how much it sucks to try and sleep and the inside of the house is hotter than outside 😭

[@msburrage74]

When I turn the blower on I can hear a humming noise from the inside unit. The outside fan unit doesn’t do anything. The ice has thawed also. I recently put a new filter in it a couple days ago and may have got one of those restrictive ones. Looks like the ice has thawed though. What is my next step or suggestions? Thanks!

[@frankmontez6853]

Going to someone's houise to see why her inside unit froze up . I told her i would try to help even though I'm not a tech just learned a few things with fixing my system . One thing you forgot is the clogged drain line . A lil bleach to clean it as my AC tech did once when mine was clogged up and evap coil was frozen

[@chameleonquest]

Our unit was clogged and not allowing water to drain. We unclogged the drain considerably, then noticed the AC sounding louder. I figured, hmm ok, maybe the AC can run at 100% now that the water can fully drain. After 2 days I noticed it wasn't quite cooling the house the way it used to. Then I spotted the ice in there. Any idea why UNclogging a drain would lead to this behavior?

[@kevinbright3080]

To correct this problem I closed off the vents on the front panel of the evaporator unit. Went to the wall above the evaporator unit and cut a 20 x20 access and installed a vent to get more air flow to the top of the evaporator unit. Still was getting iced evaporator. The solution was I removed the insulation from the interior wall of the evaporator A coil area which caused excessive condensation onto the Evaporator coils causing ice issues. I had to cut 2 pieces of cardboard 16 x 20 and put one on each side of the A coil. Gues what. No more condesation and no more frozen A coil.

[@guitinwidit]

I had a power outage and when it came back on after about a half hour it seems like my AC hasn't worked right since. I have a Honeywell programmable thermostat that I never really bothered to learn - shame on me - so I fiddled around with it, thinking something wasn't right in there. Ended up taking the face off and replacing the little disc 2032 battery while in there since I know it's a least 4 years old. Two days later I still have the same issue: outside unit running but nothing coming out of the vents inside. Is there some kind of secret reset on the thermostat, like holding two buttons down at once? I had also turned the unit off at both the thermostat and the breaker and waited 30 minutes. Maybe that wasn't long enough if there was a lot of ice? I just think the problem I'm dealing with is related to the power outage, but we've had plenty of outages before (I'm in Florida) and it has always come back on. Any ideas? Is there something in the programming of the thermostat that got "flipped" and needs a reset but since I didn't do it the condenser is now iced up? Thanks for your help!

[@guitinwidit]

Follow up: It ended up being the fan motor up in the attic condenser unit. Thanks