Has this ever happened to you?  Your air conditioner is running, but it is just not quite keeping the house at the temperature you want it to be.  It always is working hard and not cooling the house enough.  We get this question in many different forms and the answer as to why can vary.

Is there something you can do about your air conditioner not cooling enough or are you stuck with certain areas of your house never getting below 85 degrees in the summertime?

When it comes to your air conditioner, just about every symptom could have several different possible solutions. There are always multiple explanations as to what could possibly be going on.  For that reason, before we get started fixing the problem, we need to cover our bases and get to the bottom of what is really causing the problem if your air conditioner is not cooling enough.  The first thing you should do is to take an inventory of what is happening.

Take An Inventory Of What Is Going On With Your Air Conditioner

When you think you have a problem with your air conditioner the first thing to do is nothing.  That’s right.  Don’t touch anything.  Just leave it alone and take an inventory of what is happening.  Go to the thermostat. Is it set on cooling? What temperature is it set at versus what is the room temperature?

If you know the air conditioner is set to cool, and you can see that it is not getting to the set temperature, you know you have a problem.

What’s working and not working? Is the furnace blowing air inside? If you go over to a register and put your hand in front of it is it blowing air?

Now to the unit outside. Is it blowing air? There’s a little fan on the top or side of your air conditioner. Is that fan blowing or not blowing.  If it is blowing air what is the temperature of that air?  Hot or cold?  If you know those things we can really help figure out what’s going on.

What Is The Temperature Of The Air Coming From The Outdoor Fan?

What difference does it make what the temperature is of the air coming off the outdoor unit fan?  When you put your hand over the outdoor fan, the air coming from it is usually hot.  What you are feeling is the heat that was inside now being pushed to the outside.

So, if you feel air coming for the outdoor fan and it feels cool instead of warm, that means the hot air is not being taken out of the inside of your house.  Under normal circumstances, the hot air from inside is rejected outside.