House is less than 3 years old with a Carrier central heat [Gas] and A/C

It was crazy hot this week, but this year I have been turning it up to 72 to save electricity (76 when I go to work) and even switched off last 3 days from 1600-1800 when the electric company asked us to

Woke up this morning, mid 90's already and temp was ~76. Raised it to 78 because I had to go. Came home and it was 81. Airflow low. Outside thick pipe (Low Side?) was covered in ice as well as the compressor and line inside the outside unit.

Peeled off the tape and popped open the panel on the indoor unit. FULL of ice obviously ~75% of airflow restricted.

Used heat gun and left fan on. Gonna let the fan run another hour then restart. filter was 3 months old, hopefully that was a factor. Fingers crossed. I'll call the installer when I get back home on Wednesday, but this was just terrible timing.

Will post follow-up. Wish me luck

Assuming your fan is working in your air handler, your unit is low on refrigerant. Get a tech out ASAP, I wouldn't run it that way.

What you are describing is typical of a dirty/clogged filter. However, 3-months is a very short time period for a filter to require replacement.

Have you removed and checked the filter?

Ice = Low coolant. You have a leak. Either R32 or R454B

Just had the same adventure. Unit about 13 years old.
New system installed on June 26.
Next day was the day my generator died.

It's only money.......

Good luck!

But you set the AC to 72 to save electricity? I can’t imagine my electric bill if I set mine that low. Besides, lower than 76 is too cold for me in the house.

I had mine on 73 and the wife told me to lower it!

Same thing happened to me a few years ago; as others mentioned, low refrigerant...add charge & dye, then monitorif if it happens again

Thanks for all the replies. Sunday night update:

- Did a total defrost until 100% dry inside and out, then let it rest a few hours. Fired it back up ~0100 on Saturday. Been running fine/normal since then.

- I did some hard searching and found Carrier manual on-line and looked at self diagnostic trouble "light" and display (It's inside the unit). No errors
- Manual and on line said same things: either blocked/restricted intake or low refrigerant. (But low refrigerant code/light was not triggered) Related to restricted intake was warning not to shut off vents in selected rooms

- The existing filter was exactly 3 months old. I had done some dusty work in the basement, so maybe it was more clogged than it looked? IDK, it was grayish, but that's just eyeballing it.
- I also did recently close the vent in the spare room that goes unoccupied 99.9% of the time in the interest of saving electricity.

Maybe these two factors (Plus 3 consecutive super hot/humid days) are the cause?

Anyway, been running fine since ~0100 on Sat. No visible ice. Checked outside unit also.

I'm going to schedule a service call to be safe later in the week (I have to be gone a few days... Will set it to a modest 76 and hope for the best. I also temporariliy pointed the Ring indoor cam directly at the thermostat so I can see what's going on while I'm gone and if it fails I can call a family member to come shut it off). "May the force be with me"

Lots of articles out there that say not to close off vents in other rooms, it doesn't save anything on your bill, it might increase flow to others rooms a bit but it also puts more pressure on the conduit in the attic and can pop seams possibly where the tape is already failing.

Good you got it working, and make sure the drip drain is clear as well....

You could also have pipes that are not insulated properly. My grandparent's air conditioner used to freeze up to until I wrapped the piping connected to the condenser with insulation. Granted, this was an older home but it would be worth checking as well.