On a blistering hot summer day, you hear it kick on. That familiar hum of the air conditioner is the sound of sweet relief. But have you ever stopped to listen to how long it runs? Does it feel like it’s chugging along all afternoon without ever taking a break? Or perhaps it just kicks on and off every few minutes.
You might assume that as long as your home feels cool, it’s all good. The reality is, there’s a sweet spot for how your air conditioning system should operate. If it runs constantly or shuts off too quickly, this is often a sign that something is wrong. An AC running all day is likely working inefficiently and heading for an early breakdown.
Why Your AC Never Shuts Off
If your thermostat is set to 75 degrees, but your AC runs for hours on end just to keep it there, that’s a big red flag. A properly functioning system should reach the set temperature and then shut off to take a break. When it runs endlessly, it’s a sign that it cannot keep up with the heat load of your house.
This constant operation can point to a few issues. The most common one is that your AC unit is simply too small for your home. When the system isn’t big enough to meet your comfort needs, it will work tirelessly but never actually get the job done efficiently.
Alternatively, there could be a problem inside the system itself. These issues can include:
- A Refrigerant Leak: Your air conditioner doesn’t cool by making cold air; it cools by moving heat from inside your home to the outside. Refrigerant is the lifeblood of this process. If it’s low, your AC loses its cooling power and has to run nonstop to have any effect.
- Extremely Dirty Coils or Filter: If the filter is clogged or the coils are caked in dirt, air can’t move through the system freely. This chokes your AC, forcing it to work much harder and longer to cool your home.
- Leaky Air Ducts: Your ducts carry that precious cold air to your rooms. If they are full of holes or have become disconnected in your attic or crawlspace, a large portion of that cooled air is being dumped where it does no good.
The Problem With Short Cycling
The opposite problem is just as bad. This is when your air conditioner kicks on, runs for just a few minutes, and then clicks off, only to repeat the process over and over. This is called short cycling, and it’s a major problem for your comfort and your equipment.
The most frequent cause of short cycling is an AC unit that is too powerful for your home. It blasts the area right around the thermostat with a huge wave of cold air. The thermostat gets satisfied quickly and shuts the system down before the rest of your house has had a chance to cool off. You end up with uneven temperatures and a system that is wearing itself out.
This constant on-and-off action is incredibly hard on the compressor, which is the heart of your air conditioner and the most expensive part to replace. Beyond the mechanical stress, short cycling also fails to do one of the AC’s most important jobs: dehumidifying your air. Your system needs to run for a solid chunk of time to effectively pull moisture from the air, so a short-cycling unit often leaves your home feeling cool but unpleasantly damp and clammy.
Finding the “Sweet Spot” for Your Cooling Cycle
So what does a healthy run time look like? On a normally hot summer day, a correctly sized and well-maintained air conditioning system should run for about 15 to 20 minutes at a time. It will likely do this two or three times an hour.
Now, this isn’t a stopwatch rule. On a truly scorching 95-degree day, it’s normal for your system to run for much longer stretches, or almost continuously, just to maintain the indoor temperature.
Conversely, on a mild 78-degree day, it might only kick on for ten minutes once an hour. The key is to notice the pattern. Those consistent, 15-to-20-minute cycles on average days are the signature of a system that is sized correctly and in good health.
Is Your AC Running a Race It Can’t Win?
Getting your AC’s run time into that healthy sweet spot is all about having a system that is properly sized, correctly installed, and consistently maintained. If your air conditioner is constantly short-cycling or running forever without getting the job done, you’re wasting energy, sacrificing comfort, and shortening the life of your equipment.
Quality Heating & Cooling is here to put an end to the race. Our team addresses the root causes of poor cooling performance. Our services are designed to get your home comfort system back in perfect shape and include:
Call today to fix your AC! We proudly serve the residents of Canton, OH, and the surrounding areas.
