Air conditioning service in Pickering
An air conditioner does not make cold. It moves heat from inside the house to outside it, and everything that goes wrong with one is a failure somewhere in that transfer. Metropolitan Heating and Air Conditioning has installed and repaired cooling systems across the GTA since 1979, Pickering included, on all makes and models.
Call (416) 283-5698, Monday to Friday 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
How the heat actually gets out of the house
Refrigerant circulates in a sealed loop between two coils. At the indoor coil it is a cold low-pressure liquid; warm house air blows across it, the refrigerant absorbs that heat and boils into a gas. The compressor outside squeezes that gas, which raises its temperature well above the outdoor air. At the outdoor coil the hot gas gives up its heat to the air moving across it and condenses back to a liquid. An expansion device drops the pressure, and the cycle repeats.
Two things follow from this. Both coils need air moving across them, because a coil that cannot exchange heat with air cannot do its job regardless of how healthy the rest of the system is. And the refrigerant is never consumed — it is a working fluid in a closed loop.
Dehumidification is a side effect, and it matters
The indoor coil sits below the dew point of the air passing over it, so water condenses out of that air and drains away. That is where the moisture removal comes from, and it happens only while the system is actually running.
Which is why runtime matters more than raw capacity for comfort. A system that satisfies the thermostat in short bursts removes less water than one that runs longer at lower output, even though both hold the same temperature. Air at the right temperature and too much moisture is the "cool but clammy" complaint, and the answer is rarely a bigger unit.
What goes wrong, and what each symptom points at
- Warm air from the vents while the unit runs. Low refrigerant from a leak, a failing compressor, or an outdoor coil too dirty to reject heat. Because refrigerant is not consumed, low charge means a leak — adding more without finding it defers the same failure.
- Ice on the indoor coil or the refrigerant lines. Airflow restriction or low charge. Shut the system off and let it thaw before the visit; running it iced can damage the compressor.
- Weak airflow. A clogged filter, a failing blower motor or capacitor, or duct leakage. The complaint is cooling but the fault is on the air side.
- Water near the indoor unit. A blocked condensate drain, or a coil that froze and then thawed.
- Short cycling. Starting and stopping every few minutes points at charge, a thermostat fault, or a system oversized for the house.
- The outdoor unit hums but the fan does not turn. Usually a failed capacitor or contactor.
- Grinding or squealing. Mechanical — a motor bearing, a loose blower wheel, or a compressor under strain.
Sizing: bigger is not better
Capacity should come from a heat gain calculation for the specific house — floor area, insulation, window area and orientation, air tightness, how the space is used. Not from the size of the old unit, and not from square footage alone.
Oversized equipment is the more common error and it causes real problems. It reaches the set temperature fast, shuts off, and never runs long enough to condense much moisture out of the air. You get temperature swings, a damp-feeling house, and additional wear from constant starting and stopping. Undersized equipment runs continuously and cannot hold the setting through a GTA summer. Both are avoided by the same calculation.
Repair, replace, or neither
Repair is usually right on a system with one identifiable fault and a sound compressor. The calculation changes when the compressor has failed, when the unit uses a refrigerant that is no longer produced, or when you are facing a third significant repair in as many seasons.
Sometimes the right answer is neither — if the complaint is one room rather than the house, a ductless mini-split for that space is often more effective than replacing a system that is serving the rest of the house adequately. We price the options side by side. Financing is available through Vista.
Booking a cooling visit
Have the make, model and rough age from the label on the outdoor unit, the symptom, and when it started. Call (416) 283-5698, Monday to Friday 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, or send us the details.
We also cover heating, heat pumps, air quality and water heating. Licensed and insured, all makes and models, including Carrier, Lennox, Napoleon, Trane, Bosch and Daikin. Pickering is one of the places we cover — see the full service area.