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What is Head Pressure in HVAC?

blue-question-markIf you’re listening to professionals talk about HVAC terms around you, you might realize what a lapse there is in your understanding of HVAC systems. We don’t want you to get self-conscious about this. You’re not here to be the expert on things. We are and we’re prepared to pass along that necessary information. We’re going to start today by defining “head pressure.”

It’s a little bit of an odd term and it’s definitely something that can become a head-scratcher. We’re the HVAC company in St Paul, MN that understands how to put things in laymen’s terms. We’re prepared to get you the right services when you need them and make them easy to understand.

What’s Head Pressure?

Head pressure is the pressure generated by the gas compressor of your air conditioning system.

This is something that we measure when we think that you might have a refrigerant problem. Head pressure that’s within a reasonable range isn’t a problem. It’s high head pressure that’s the issue. You should schedule an appointment with our air conditioning professionals if you think that high head pressure might be an issue with your air conditioning system.

Why You Have High Head Pressure

Once a professional tells you that you have high head pressure, it’s a good idea to figure out how this happened. Here are a few reasons why you might be dealing with high head pressure in your home:

Dirty Condenser Coils

Your coils in your air conditioning system can become dirty over time. If this is the problem that you’re encountering, it’s more than likely because you haven’t had your air conditioning system maintained in a while.

This is why you should have your air conditioner maintained once every spring. If you encounter this issue and then solve it, it’s a great idea to enroll in our maintenance plan to prevent this in the future.

Bad Fan Motor

You might notice that you have high head pressure if you have a bad fan motor. This is actually the most common issue that causes high head pressure.

You can have a bad fan motor due to a few different reasons. Your fan blades naturally wear down over time. The process of them wearing down can be expedited by debris finding its way into your air conditioner’s outside unit.

Refrigerant Issues

If you have a refrigerant leak, it can easily lead to high head pressure issues. Don’t ignore this issue. Having leaking refrigerant can quickly lead to the breakdown of your home’s air conditioning system. We’re going to help you figure out everything you should know.

Non-Condensing Gases

Have you done some DIY work on your home’s air conditioner? If you have, then you might have run into a little confusion with the refrigerant system. The aftermath of this is typically high head pressure. Hooking things up in this part of the system is intricate and complicated. If you’ve realized that you’re having troubles, then there’s no shame in contacting a professional.

Contact Residential Heating and Air Conditioning to schedule an appointment with our HVAC professionals. Feel the Difference.

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