Most homeowners ask how often should my air conditioner cycle. This is a common concern to know if the system is running efficiently. It also entails whether or not the size of the air conditioner is adequate for the house.
To understand more about this, let us talk about the cycle time of air conditioners. When we say, cycle time it is the time at which the unit is running to keep the room’s temperature equal to the thermostat setting.
Perhaps, you set the temperature of the thermostat too much lower than the temperature of the room, then it will take time for the compressor to lower the temperature of the room. As such, the cycle time will increase.
Meaning to say, the greater the difference between the temperatures of the thermostat and the room, the higher the cycle time or the other way around.
Should My Air Conditioner Cycle?
A lot of factors are affected by an air conditioner’s cycle time. We will be discussing each of them below.
Factor #1. Power consumption
Every time you turn on the compressor, the air conditioning unit will consume high power. It is even greater as compared to when you use the unit continuously or what is referred to as the long cycle.
In other words, short cycles do not mean that lower energy consumption than long cycles.
Factor #2. Efficiency
As mentioned earlier, more power is consumed during the start-up of an air conditioner. This also means that often short cycles will affect your unit’s efficiency. Consequently, the efficiency will improve it is used in longer cycles.
Factor #3. Humidity
The comfort level of an air conditioner depends on its capability to remove the humidity in the air. Increasing the cycle time will also improve that particular capability.
If the air conditioner is often turned on and off, it will affect its ability to remove the room’s humidity. In other words, a long air conditioner cycle promotes better humidity removal.
Typically, if the air conditioner is undersized, it tends to have a better capability in terms of removing humidity compared to an oversized air conditioning unit. That is because the cycle time of the former is longer than the latter.
Factor #4. Comfort
An air conditioning unit that is running at a loner period will change the room temperature gradually. As such, the comfort level will also be increased gradually.
However, if you set the air conditioner to quickly meet the temperature, it can lead to an abrupt change in the room temperature and this can also lead to a lesser comfort level.
Furthermore, a shorter cycle time won’t facilitate efficient removal of humidity and this can also lead to lesser comfort.
FAQs
In this section, you will get answers to the most frequently asked questions related to an air conditioner cycle. Keep reading because you may have the same questions in mind. So, how often should my air conditioner cycle?
Question #1. How long should the AC unit keep off in between cycles?
Generally, it is good to keep the unit turned off for 10 up to 20 units in between each cycle. But this will depend on its surrounding condition. Since oversized air conditioners have the higher cooling capacity, it tends to run at a shorter cycle.
Question #2. Why is it that my air conditioning unit turns off after every five minutes?
Most often than not, an air conditioner malfunction is a culprit behind this. It is understandable why it usually happens. In case the air filter is not clean, it will hinder the flow of the air.
If the airflow is obstructed, it can cause even more problems and this can include the freeze-up of the evaporator coil. Such an occurrence will lead cause your unit to malfunction. It will most likely turn off and on in short spurts.
Question #3. Why does an air conditioner constantly turn on and off?
Short cycling is a common problem that happens among air conditioners. This is when your compressor switches off and then switches on again after a few minutes. It can happen due to different conditions.
Most often than not, short-cycling occurs when the thermostat is obstructed or faulty, when there is a refrigerant leak, or when the evaporator coil is frozen. Not only that, but if the air conditioning unit is oversized for the space where it is installed, it will also lead to short cycling.
Question #4. Is it okay to run the air conditioner all day?
Yes, it is normal and okay to run the air conditioner continuously throughout the entire day. Usually, people have their units operated this way during the summer season.
During this time, the air conditioning system has to work harder in cooling the room given the extreme heat. With that being said, it needs to run longer to reach the desired temperature of the room.
It’s A Wrap!
How often should my air conditioner cycle? If the weather is mils, an air conditioner the functions well and is correctly sized will run in a 15-minute cycle.
In approximate, the unit will be running twice or thrice every hour. But in case your unit is running for lower than 10 minutes each cycle instead, then it is too big for the house.