We have at least one HVAC professional here on SIGforum; I have a question for him / them:

A lightning strike in the back yard caused a major power surge in our house. Damage included the HVAC air handler, shorting one of the conductors in the cable bundle between the air handler and the thermostat. Fried the thermostat, which has been replaced, and there was a spare wire in the cable bundle, so the wiring is now functional.

There is a refrigerant leak in the air handler. A replacement has been ordered and should arrive in a few days. Meantime, "Air Conditioning Joe" has been replenishing the refrigerant on a daily basis to give us some relief in these 90° Florida days.

Here's my question: "Air Conditioning Joe" told us to keep the thermostat set to a low temperature, stating that by keeping the system running, the refrigerant leak will be minimized. Google tells me the opposite. What is the correct answer?

From an automotive perspective. The air handler (evaporator) has a lower pressure when running than it does when shut off. Pressure equalizes when static, so, I would keep it running.

quote:

Originally posted by rizzle:
From an automotive perspective. The air handler (evaporator) has a lower pressure when running than it does when shut off. Pressure equalizes when static, so, I would keep it running.

Unless high side leak or enough leak happens. Did they state it's an evap coil leak or low side leak?

What rizzle said, but not only are you losing freon but you are also losing the oil that lubricates the compressor, so there is a risk of locking up the compressor if it's leaking so much he has to charge it daily.

That being said, if you have a lightning strike, almost everything in your house with a circuit board will fail within the next year, even if it is currently working now. So I would have insurance cover all of those items from tv's to microwave to clock radio.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by rizzle:
From an automotive perspective. The air handler (evaporator) has a lower pressure when running than it does when shut off. Pressure equalizes when static, so, I would keep it running.

Unless high side leak or enough leak happens. Did they state it's an evap coil leak or low side leak?

I don't know where the A/c leak is, but if it is on the low side, keep it running, Considering the guy doing the work knows where the leak is, that would be his reason to keep it running.

Did you ask google the obvious follow up question?

Why then does my technician instruct me to run it as much as possible?

Google has the answer.