Air Conditioning - Air conditioner not blowing that hard

Hi,
I read some other threads on this but wanted to explain what is going on with mine and hope it is something not major as I am broke and it is hot on my kids.

We have central air. I inherited the unit as it came with the house we bought.

It worked last year but seems to have deteriorated. If i place my hand over any vent in the house i can feel cold BUT it is barely blowing. It won't even cool the house. I mean the breeze is so slight you might as well not call it a breeze at all (if that makes sense). It is cold though.

On the unit outside i can see that the intake appears to be working as the grass on one side of the unit is moving around like there is air activity.

any ideas on what it might be?

Air filter? (which i am hoping that's all it is).

thanks for any advice.

Sincerely.

Check the filter and clean it if it is dirty.First take out the filter and run the unit without it and see if it is ok. Otherwise it could be the blower up in the attic. Hope not.

When is the last time you changed filter? Have you ever changed it?
A blocked filter can burn up a blower motor.

Do you know where filter is located?

Do you have a central return or individual room returns?

Have you looked at blower-either on your air handler or furnace?

Post back what you find out.

Good Luck!
:)

Hi thanks for the replies.

Honestly i have never changed the filter (please go easy on me for not doing this, this home ownership is a new thing to me).

Should the filter be in the air conditioner unit? There are bolts that go around the perimeter of the top of the unit, is this what i should be taking off and then remove the top cover???
After i do this will the filter be relatively easy to locate?

Dumb question:
What is the difference between the air handler and the furnace? Do you mean funace as my heater furnace (that is in the crawl space)?

Thanks again.

Edit: Oh and i am not sure where the filter is and the return i believe is in 2 places. One in the living room and one at the top of the stairs (i am in a split level).

With two returns Id say the filter is in the unit down in the crawl space . Is the AC you have on your furnace down there????

ED

if there is a grate over the returnd remove it and see if there is a filter there It may look blue or gray if it is dirty. Do you have forced air heat=does the heat blow out of registers.

Is the AC you have on your furnace down there????

Ed,
If there is anyway you can clarify this question further i would so greatly appreciate it.
I apologize i am not entirely sure i know what you mean. There is a big furnace down in the crawl space but i always thought that was my heater while there is a unit outside-it is a box estimating 2ft by 2ft by 4 ft which i thought took care of the cooling. Do you mean they somehow integrate as my heat is gas while my ac is electric?

Joneq,
I believe I have forced air heat, i mean i have vents in all the rooms on the floor and air blows out of them. Do you think the return filter could cause the output not to blow cold air?

Thanks again so much for the help.

Your filters will either be in your 2 return grates inside your house or behind the your furnace blower located probably in your crawl space.

Let us know what you find.

:)

Thanks,
another dumb question, Does the air conditioner use the same filter as my heater?
Other than the return, are there any other filters i should be looking for?

I apologize because the term "furnace" is confusing me as well. When i think furnace i think my heater.

Thanks again.

Edit: also the return grate upstairs is dirty, could a dirty return grate/filter in return grate actually cause cold air not to blow as hard?

Thanks,
another dumb question, Does the air conditioner use the same filter as my heater?
Other than the return, are there any other filters i should be looking for?

I apologize because the term "furnace" is confusing me as well. When i think furnace i think my heater.

Thanks again.

Edit: also the return grate upstairs is dirty, could a dirty return grate/filter in return grate actually cause cold air not to blow as hard?


Update:
I am not home so i called my wife and had her check the upstairs return grate (it was indeed dirty). She took the grate off and said it is just a hole that goes down the wall. So from looking at it it looks as if there is no filter in the upstairs one.
She checked the downstairs and said no filters but ALOT of dirt.

Thanks.

Seems we may be having a communication issue.

First of all, how do you heat your home? Is it gas forced air furnace? If not, then what is it?

You have to have some method of blowing the cold air that is produced from your outside AC unit. This is either with a a dedicated air handler or it can be a blower on your gas furnace.

Dirty grates don't cause your air flow problem. The grates should be vacuumed but it is the filter that is supposed to catch dust/particles before they reach your blower. You have to determine where your filter is located.

Sorry you are having difficulty.

:(

I apologize.

My heater is force air gas.

Ok now I think i'm getting it :), the AC unit outside uses the same blower that my heater uses to distribute the cold air. right?

If this is the case then the heater and AC use the same filter i am looking for right? or wrong?

If so i think my dad replaced the heater filter last year.

My wife did also mention to me/remind me that the heater didn't blow all that great either in the winter time. Guess it didn't bother me as much as it being stinking hot and humid.

Thanks for your help and she says thanks as well. :)

The air filters in the furnace or AC unit should be changed every 30 to 90 days all year round.

ED

Thanks.
So do you think this could perhaps be the issue then since i obviously don't change the filter nowhere near as often as i should? Don't worry i'll start this practice.

Another dumb question:

Ed you said "the air filters in the Furnace or AC unit", does this mean that there is a filter in my unit outside as well or is the filter only on the inside where the blower appears to be (ie. the furnace).
I just need to know how many filters am i looking for? 1,2,3, more and where will they all be located.
As said there doesn't appear to be any in the return.


thanks. :)

deh1217

I assume you have still not found your filter.

It is either/or under normal circumstances.

Either in your central returns-2?
or in a slot before your furnace blower.
There should be a slot for the filter to fit regardless.

You have to find the filter and have it replaced before you can determine if this is the problem. Or another possibility, you have been running blower without filters and that it is damaged from all the dust/dirt etc. Just don't know.

If so i think my dad replaced the heater filter last year.

Like Ed said, filters should be changed every 30-90 days.

:(