Why Your Air Conditioner Works Harder in Late Summer
Earlier in summer, the outdoor unit may have run for a while, shut down, and remained quiet until the thermostat called for cooling again. Near the end of the season, those off periods often become much shorter. Some afternoons, the equipment may seem to run almost continuously. Then evening arrives, and the pattern can become even more puzzling. Outdoor temperatures begin dropping, direct sunlight disappears, but the AC still keeps working. B & W Heating & Cooling hears this concern from Edwardsville homeowners every August. The important question is whether the system is simply responding to a larger late-summer cooling load or whether something is preventing it from delivering the capacity it once did. Both situations can produce the same symptom: longer runtime. Every home gains heat throughout the day. Your air conditioner has to remove that heat quickly enough to maintain the thermostat setting. If the house gains more heat than usual, the system must stay on longer...