When your air conditioner can't keep up with the heat and humidity, you may find your home to be uncomfortable during the day or too warm to sleep well at night. If you spend a lot of time in your home, such as if you work from home or homeschool your kids, you need your home to be a comfortable oasis against the weather outdoors.

An AC has several parts, and each one is important for the proper operation of your system. It can be difficult to know what's wrong when your AC stops working, so call an air conditioning repair service for help before the problem gets worse. Here are some things the AC service may look for.

1. Triggered Safety Switches

Your air conditioner can shut down when a safety switch is activated. For instance, if your AC starts short cycling and it shuts off right after starting up, the equipment may shut down until it's been serviced. The condensation pan might even have a float switch in it that shuts the AC down if water isn't draining out properly.

The control board might show codes that point to the problem, but the air conditioning repair service might need to troubleshoot your system to find the issue and fix it so a safety switch doesn't interfere with the proper operation and cooling of your home.

2. Dust Clogging The System

Dirty equipment is a common cause of air conditioning failure. Even the filter can cause your AC to break down if it is clogged with dust. The air conditioning repair service may check the filter, blower, and evaporator coils in the air handler for dust buildup. If the parts are dust or grimy, the technician may need to clean them to get your air conditioner to work again.

3. Refrigerant Problems

If the refrigerant level is low, your AC won't keep your home cool, and the problem will continue to get worse. Instead of just adding more refrigerant, the repair technician has to hunt down the leaky area and repair the refrigerant line to stop the leak. Then new refrigerant can be added. With the proper level of refrigerant, your AC should start cooling down your home again nicely.

Your air conditioner has a variety of parts. Some are small and inexpensive, while others cost a lot of money to replace. One reason you should call an air conditioning repair service to check your AC when it won't keep your home cool is so one of the major, expensive parts in your AC won't be damaged by running the equipment when a small part goes bad. Early repairs might mean a lower repair bill, and it also means less time you have to spend sweltering in your home.