AC Maintenance in Florence, 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 Lauderdale County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Florence heat wears on a system fast
Your air conditioner in Florence runs from May through September, and on summer afternoons that average 89°F, it runs most of the day to keep the house cool. That kind of steady load wears on the parts that cycle the system on and off. A tune-up checks the refrigerant charge, the electrical connections, and the condenser coil while it's still working fine, so a small problem gets caught before it stops the system during those five months.
Lauderdale County also sees its share of severe weather. Ten years of records show 653 damaging wind events and 26 hail events, with hail up to 1.75 inches. A storm like that can bend the fins on the outdoor unit or knock it out of alignment without leaving obvious damage. Regular service is a chance to catch that kind of wear before the next stretch of heat asks the system to work through it.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 89°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 26 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 653 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.
That license comes from the Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors, and it covers the contractor, not the individual job on your air conditioner.
Maintenance on an air conditioner often means opening the refrigerant side of the system, to check charge or pressure. Anyone who does that, in Alabama or any other state, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That's a federal requirement, separate from the state license, and it applies to the person doing the work, not the business.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A technician checks refrigerant pressure, cleans the condenser coil outside, and tests the capacitor and contactor in the electrical components. They will also check the drain line for clogs, since a blocked drain can back up and leak into the house. Inside, they check the evaporator coil and airflow across it, and confirm the thermostat is calling for cooling correctly. In Florence, coils get dirty fast because the unit runs from May through September, so cleaning that coil is one of the most useful things a visit does.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year is enough for most systems. The best time is in spring, before the cooling season starts here in May, so anything found can be fixed before the unit has to work through months of afternoons near 89°F. A yearly check also catches a weak capacitor or a dirty coil before it causes a breakdown mid-summer.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, because most breakdowns trace back to something a technician could have caught earlier, like a failing capacitor or a coil coated in dirt. A dirty coil makes the system run longer to cool the same space, and a weak capacitor can leave the compressor struggling to start. With cooling needed five months a year here, a system that is not checked has more time to develop a problem than one that only runs occasionally.