{"id":533,"date":"2021-09-06T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/?p=533"},"modified":"2021-09-03T17:01:41","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T22:01:41","slug":"why-ac-shutting-off-on-too-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/air-conditioning-service\/why-ac-shutting-off-on-too-much\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Your AC Is Shutting Off and On Too Much"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/air_conditioning_Plastic_grate-sm-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"ac-grill\" class=\"wp-image-534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/air_conditioning_Plastic_grate-sm-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/air_conditioning_Plastic_grate-sm.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you noticed something isn\u2019t right with your air conditioner? It\u2019s not that it isn\u2019t running, or that you\u2019re not receiving cooling from it. No, the trouble is that the AC has gotten <em>jittery<\/em> with how it turns on and off. You hear the compressor kick-on far more often than usual, and the AC never seems to run long enough no matter the indoor temperature. But the AC also never seems to stay <em>off<\/em> for long either.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think this quick stop-and-start behavior is a problem, you\u2019re correct. We\u2019ll shed some light on what\u2019s going on, why it\u2019s going on, and how to stop it from going on.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>It\u2019s got a name: <\/strong><strong><em>short-Cycling<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The term for an AC caught in a rapid on-and-off pattern is <em>short-cycling<\/em>. An air conditioner goes through a cooling cycle when it turns on, and these cycles are supposed to last for 15 minutes or more. That\u2019s the minimal length necessary for all the components in the AC to power up and remove enough heat from the house and distribute the cool air through the rooms to make a difference in temperature.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When an air conditioner doesn\u2019t complete a full cycle, it shuts off after less than 15 minutes. Because the air conditioner didn\u2019t have an opportunity to lower the temperature in the house, it will turn back on again soon after, only to then shut back down again \u2026 and start all over. The AC has, essentially, gotten trapped in an endless start-up cycle.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reasons short-cycling may happen<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Why does this happen? We can list off many sources for a short-cycling AC, since this is one of the most common symptoms of air conditioning malfunctions. Here are the ones we see the most often:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>A clogged air filter that needs to be replaced&nbsp;<\/li><li>The thermostat is misreading indoor temperatures as too low<\/li><li>The compressor is starting to wear down<\/li><li>Refrigerant is leaking from the air conditioner<\/li><li>The AC is too powerful for the house<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Short-cycling is a problem, whatever the source<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Short-cycling on its own\u2014even if there weren\u2019t a major problem like leaking refrigerant or a dying compressor beneath it\u2014is a big malfunction for an air conditioner that spells trouble. An AC system draws on the most amount of energy when it starts up, so if it gets caught starting up more than unusual, the stress and strain cause big problems:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Energy drain: <\/strong>The compressor makes the biggest demand on the electrical supply when it starts up. Short-cycling will cause the cost of running the AC to begin to skyrocket.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Frequent repairs: <\/strong>Running an air conditioner more than normal means its parts will wear down quickly. You can expect to have to call for frequent repairs with a short-cycling AC.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Short service life: <\/strong>All that extra work on the air conditioner will shorten its expected service life. No repair is more expensive than having to replace an AC too early!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>We have your short-cycling solutions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In most cases, you\u2019ll need professional <a href=\"\/service-areas\/little-rock-ar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">air conditioning repair in Little Rock, AR<\/a> to fix the cause of short-cycling in your AC. We have a well-trained team to diagnose the problem and have it fixed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Dewees HVAC proudly serves the Conway area. <\/strong><a href=\"\/contact\/schedule-service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Call us for help when you have a short-cycling air conditioning system.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you think this quick stop-and-start behavior is a problem, you\u2019re correct. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[23,14,97],"class_list":["post-533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-conditioning-service","tag-air-conditioner-repair","tag-air-conditioning-replacement","tag-little-rock"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":536,"href":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions\/536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dewees-hvac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}