How Long Do Evaporator Coils Last on a Home A/C?

 

Your air conditioner operates by removing the heat that accumulates within the interior space of your house and venting it to the outside area. A home air conditioning system normally consists of a compressor, condenser coil, evaporator coil, blower fan, condenser fan, thermostat along with other electrical circuitry and tubing. The evaporator coil works as a provider of the cold air for the comfort of your home while the condenser is used for releasing heat to the outside area of your house.

What it takes to make your evaporator coils last longer:

  • Check the position and location of the Evaporator Coil
  • The material used for constructing the Evaporator Coil
  • Evaporator Coil cleaning and maintenance
  • Accidental damage

Making Evaporator Coils last longer

How Long Do Evaporator Coils Last on a Home A/C?

  • You would be able to find that the evaporator coil of an air conditioning unit needs to be placed inside the house and it is normally just beneath the blower fan either in the attic or the utility closet of the unit.
    • It can be accessed through the ductwork via a service port.
    • In some cases, if it is first time access, you need to create an opening by cutting through the side of the duct.
  • An evaporator coil is made of copper or aluminum tubing of at least 1/3 inch in diameter
    • It comes with a curvy like shape in a serpentine fashion through a grid of cooling fins made of metal.
    • The cooling fins will assist the tubing in absorbing the heat coming from the air flow and at the same time cool the air flowing downstream into the air ducts.

Usually the cooling fins are made from aluminum or copper because both of this material have the ability to absorb and release heat in a very fast manner.

  • An evaporator coil needs to be regularly maintained in order to have a long lasting life time.
    • After being used for a long time, dust, dirt and pollen will accumulated onto your air filter before it starts to collect on your evaporator coil.
    • You will also notice that the evaporator coil is moist with condensation thus resulting to the effects of impurities to stick to the coil and provide a collection point for the accumulation of even more dust or other particles.
    • The impurities or contaminants will in the end decrease the efficiency of the heat transfer and also making it a place for mold to grow plus also the formation of corrosion.
    • Whenever corrosion starts to build up, it will cause your evaporator coil to leak. Therefore, you are required to replace the evaporator coil.
    • The accumulation of too much dirt will in the end blocks the air flow of your evaporator coil and trap too much cold air around the evaporator coil. Then, the coil will ice up thus damaging or destroying the coil if you leave the coil unattended.
  • If the servicing of your evaporator coil is not done properly, it might cause the tubing to pierce and needs to be replaced.
    • If you are not careful enough, even a small pinhole to the evaporator will make the refrigerant escape and in the end making your air conditioner not working.
  • By having a proper schedule of maintenance for your home air conditioning compressor
    • The evaporator coil should be able to last for up to 15 years, which is an ideal lifetime for an evaporator coil.

    Always remember that if you want replace your evaporator coil,

    • Make sure that you replace it together with the compressor because both of the items need to be properly matched in order to provide efficient cooling to your home.
    • If you only replace the evaporator coil and still using the existing compressor, the unit will not be operating as it is supposed to and would also create corrosion.

In order to ensure that your air conditioner runs efficiently, its maintenance especially on its condenser and evaporator coils need to be kept in a good and clean condition. The dirt and grime that builds up on the air condition coils will reduce the air condition ability in absorbing and radiating heat thus resulting in poor performance of the air conditioner. The cleaning task needs to be done once a month, but if your usage is heavy then you need to clean it more often.

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