Matt, what are the effects of a leaking refrigerant line on system efficiency and cooling capacity?

In this edition of “HVAC Skill Builder,” Matt discusses HVAC system efficiency and cooling capacity with a leaking refrigerant line.

Matt, what are the effects of a leaking refrigerant line on system efficiency and cooling capacity? The effects of a leaking system, leaking a refrigerant can cause many issues. Number one, basically it’s not going to allow the system to remove heat from the home if you’re in air conditioning mode. This also results in non-condensibles going into that system. So what does that mean? It means is when that system is exposed to the open atmosphere, which it normally is when the system is leaking, you’re going to have all these contaminants get inside the system and start clogging up critical points such as a TXV or filter dryer. It’ll also kill the capacity of the system as it cannot effectively remove the heat from the home. So it’s very, very important that if you identify a leak, fix the leak, follow all the installation protocols to make sure that there’s no more contamination in the system, and then that’ll help you guarantee that system is going to run efficiently as possible.