AC Maintenance in Anniston, AL
Air conditioners here run from May through September, so April is the time for a tune-up. Tell us about your system, and a licensed contractor who covers Calhoun County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of heat, every year
Your air conditioner works May through September in Anniston, with summer afternoons averaging 89°F. That is five straight months where the compressor runs long hours just to keep the house comfortable.
All that runtime wears on the same parts. A tune-up checks the refrigerant charge, the condenser coil, and the electrical connections that keep the compressor starting reliably. Calhoun County has also seen its share of hail and wind over the past ten years, and a service visit is a chance to look over the outdoor unit for damage you might not spot from the ground.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 89°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 30 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 57 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Book your AC tune-up in April, before homes here start needing cooling in May.
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
A tune-up checks the refrigerant charge, cleans the coils, tests the capacitor and tightens the electrical connections.
Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors. It is tied to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license that covers a full installation across the state covers a maintenance visit in Calhoun County.
For a maintenance call, that license is what stands behind the person in your house. If the technician opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner to check charge or pressure, federal law also requires EPA Section 608 certification, and that rule applies the same way in every state.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A contractor checks the refrigerant charge, cleans the condenser coil outside and the evaporator coil if it is reachable, and tests the capacitor and contactor that start and run the compressor. They check the condensate drain for clogs, since a blocked drain backs up and can shut the system down or damage a ceiling. They also check the airflow across the coil and change or note the filter. A coil caked with dirt or a low refrigerant charge makes the system work harder to hit the same temperature, and that matters here with summer afternoons averaging 89 degrees.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year, in spring before the heat sets in. Homes here run their AC from May through September, five months straight, so getting the coils clean and the refrigerant charge checked before that stretch begins matters. If a hailstorm has come through, it is worth having the outdoor unit looked at afterward too. Anniston has seen 30 hail events over the last ten years, and hail can dent the fins on the outdoor coil or bend the fan blade without it being obvious from a glance.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, because it catches the small problems, a weak capacitor, a dirty coil, a low refrigerant charge, before they turn into a system that quits. A unit that has to fight a dirty coil or a bad start capacitor works harder every single day it runs. With cooling season here lasting five months and afternoons regularly hitting 89 degrees, a system that is already struggling has little room to keep up when it counts most.