{"id":2356,"date":"2024-07-22T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-22T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/?p=2356"},"modified":"2024-07-19T13:10:42","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T17:10:42","slug":"why-is-ac-turning-on-off-so-often","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/why-is-ac-turning-on-off-so-often\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is My AC Turning On and Off So Often?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Why-Is-My-AC-Turning-On-and-Off-So-Often.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Why-Is-My-AC-Turning-On-and-Off-So-Often-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"smiling-HVAC-technician-working-on-an-AC-outdoor-unit\" class=\"wp-image-2357\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Why-Is-My-AC-Turning-On-and-Off-So-Often-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Why-Is-My-AC-Turning-On-and-Off-So-Often-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Why-Is-My-AC-Turning-On-and-Off-So-Often.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Air conditioners often indicate that they\u2019re struggling by the sounds that they make. During normal operation, an air conditioner\u2019s compressor will kick on with a hum, and the fan will whir. If you\u2019re hearing bangs, clattering, whistling, buzzing, grinding, or other surprising sounds, you\u2019ll know right away that you need <a href=\"\/air-conditioning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AC repair<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there\u2019s something else you should be listening for. It\u2019s not just weird sounds that can mean there\u2019s a problem. It\u2019s when the routine sounds are happening too frequently. If you hear your air conditioner coming on and turning off again every few minutes, something is wrong. Why are these short AC cycles happening? We\u2019ll tell you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Short Cycling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your air conditioner\u2019s cooling cycle should occur three or four times an hour. The thermostat calls for cooling. The compressor starts up and pressurizes the refrigerant, which flows through the coils, absorbing heat from inside and allowing it to dissipate outside. When the target temperature is reached, the compressor shuts down until the next cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If it\u2019s starting up over and over again, perhaps ten or more times per hour, that\u2019s because it is shutting down before the target temperature is reached. Why? It\u2019s probably the limit switch, shutting the air conditioner down for safety reasons. This happens when the inner workings get too hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Causes of Overheating<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It could be that the motor that powers the blower fan is overheating. Maybe it\u2019s caked with a blanket of dust because you didn\u2019t have maintenance done in the spring, maybe it\u2019s suffering from an electrical issue creating excess heat, or maybe it just isn\u2019t getting enough air circulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When air doesn\u2019t move through the system quickly enough, the minor amount of heat created by the motor won&#8217;t dissipate. It builds up around the motor. So why isn\u2019t air circulating properly? It might be as simple as a badly clogged air filter, so your first step is to put in a new one. But it could also be that the fan is broken and not pulling air through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Professional Attention<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If putting in a new air filter doesn\u2019t put the short cycling to a stop, it\u2019s time for some help from a knowledgeable technician. They can pinpoint the cause of the problem and get it sorted out for you. You\u2019ll want to do this right away. Short cycling is an indicator that there\u2019s a problem, yes, but it can also be a cause of more problems! Don\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If short cycling continues, the startup portion of the cooling cycle happens three or four times as often as it should. Because the startup uses a lot more energy than the rest of the cycle, this means your electric bill will shoot up alarmingly. Even worse, the startup puts more strain on the compressor than the rest of the cycle. Constant starts and stops will age the compressor prematurely, shortening the life of the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news is, the sooner you get repairs, the lower your risk of other problems developing. So if you have concerns about short cycling <a href=\"\/service-areas\/auburn-hvac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">air conditioning in Auburn, GA<\/a>, get the help you need right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"\/contact\/contact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Reach out to Wall Heating &amp; Air Conditioning, Inc.<\/strong><\/a><strong> with any inquiries or to make an appointment.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you hear your air conditioner coming on and turning off again every few minutes, something is wrong. Why are these short AC cycles happening? We\u2019ll tell you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[97,197],"class_list":["post-2356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-conditioning-repair","tag-air-conditioning","tag-auburn"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2356"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2360,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356\/revisions\/2360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallheatingandair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}