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As you all know, the last few days have been blazing hot. This afternoon, even with the thermostat on for a couple of hours, it was pretty hot in the house. Come to find out, it was still 79 degrees inside, the same temperature at which we started since we set it to 72. With some troubleshooting of the heat pump outside and the fuses, the fan is blowing well. The air from the vents IS cool, but it seems to be coming out slowly. Any ideas before I end up overpaying someone to fix this? Thanks a lot!
Does the main duct come into a crawl space? IF so, you can open the crawl space door and while it should be cool it should not be cold. That would be the first point of reference. The next step would be to crawl over to where the duct comes in and check it out. Looks for a tight connection. Secondly, has the system been running a long time? Sometimes the coils freeze like old freezers used to and it can block air flow. If the duct work seems ok you can try shutting down for a while to let things thaw out.
Just some suggestions based on my experience...with A/C, not heat pumps. Good luck!
Check filter, make sure it's not clogged or restricting air flow.
Check the evap coil if you are able, look for a dirty coil or frozen up.
Alternatively try turning the unit off for a couple hours (I know) then turn it back on. If the air flow is normal, wait and see. If it diminishes again your evap coil is freezing up most likely. Either a clogged filter or leak and low refrigerant level.
It's possible your air handler blower motor is also weak or the cap is going on it as well.
Check out DIYchatroom.com, they have a pretty helpful HVAC section. But try to use correct terminology to help out if you can. The system isn't hard to learn, spend a couple mins going over the various components.
Sounds like either the air filter is clogged or the outside unit is low on freon and the evaporator coils are almost frozen which will restrict air flow. Remove the air filter and check if air volume increases. If not, visually inspect the 2 copper lines going to the outside unit for frost. If you see frost turn off the a/c for 3-4 hours. This will allow the evaporator coils to thaw allowing air to pass through them. You will need to call someone to add freon to the system if you find it frozen.
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It's possible your air handler blower motor is also weak or the cap is going on it as well.
A blower motor will either work or it won't. A cap or capacitor is for start-up only and will not affect the running performance.
Are you enrolled in the Duke Energy EnergyWise program. We experienced that today during one of the controlled outages. The previous owners of our home were enrolled. It may be worth it to check it out to see if that could be the cause of your problems today. It sounds very similar to what we experienced between 3 & 6 today.
Frozen coils. Let the unit thaw out overnight and see if your airflow is better in the morning.
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