How Does an HVAC Contractor Find Refrigerant Leaks?

If your air conditioner isn't running as well as it should, it could be because of a refrigerant leak. Here's how an AC repair service will figure out if that's the problem.

High Electric Bills

One of the things that might tip you to call an HVAC contractor and that they'll ask about is higher than normal electric bills. When your refrigerant leaks, your air conditioner loses cooling power.

Your air conditioner will take longer to achieve the same level of cooling while all of its mechanical parts are still using electricity. That means your electric bills could be going up before you even notice other signs of a problem.

Air Conditioner Unable to Cool

Refrigerants absorb heat from your house and release it outside. If your air conditioner has lost its cooling ability and hasn't narrowed it down to any other cause, then a refrigerant leak is probably to blame.

For example, you will often notice that your AC fan is broken because no air will come out of your air conditioner. However, if everything seems to be running normally except the air coming out isn't as cool as it should be, that's a sign there isn't enough refrigerant in your system to get the job done.

Electronic Leak Detector Test

Once an HVAC contractor arrives at your home, they have a number of tools they can use to confirm a suspected refrigerant leak. One is an electronic leak detector test.

An electronic leak detector test is a special scanning device that can detect refrigerant leaks. The contractor will run the scanner over all of the accessible areas of your system to try to identify any leaks.

Pressure Tests

If you have a refrigerant leak, it may be in an area where the contractor can't reach with a scanner. To detect leaks deep inside of your home, they can use pressure tests.

When your air conditioner is fully charged, the refrigerant should be at a certain pressure. The pressure depends on your specific system, but the contractor can look up what the pressure should be for your system.

If the pressure is too low, it usually means that there is a leak. The contractor can then isolate different lines to figure out where the pressure is lowest to identify where the leak is. This way, they can find leaks even in areas they can't reach and then figure out how to fix or replace the line without unnecessarily tearing up your walls in places.