AC Repair in Decatur, AL
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Morgan County will get in touch.
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It takes about a minute.
Five months of heat, every year
Your air conditioner runs from May through September in Decatur. On afternoons that hit 89°F, it has to run long stretches just to keep the house where you set it. That kind of runtime wears on the parts that keep the compressor going, and a capacitor or contactor that's been struggling all summer can fail right when you need the system most.
Morgan County has also seen its share of hail and wind, 26 hail events and 246 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A condenser sits outside and takes that weather directly. Bent fins slow the airflow it needs, and a hard enough hit can damage the coil itself. If your air conditioner is blowing warm or struggling to keep up, the outdoor unit is a good place to start looking.
- 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
- 246 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $50 a year off cooling for a typical Morgan County home.
Estimates for a typical Morgan County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Alabama fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when a part like a capacitor or contactor has failed.
Replacement makes sense when the compressor has failed or the system uses R-22 refrigerant, which is no longer made.
Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors, and it's tied to the contractor, not to any single repair. The board has tested this contractor and keeps a record of them, so the license you're checking for belongs to the business you hire, not the specific job they do at your house.
For a repair like this, that license is what stands behind the work in Morgan County. If the repair involves opening up the refrigerant side of your air conditioner, which most repairs to a sealed system do, federal law also requires the technician doing that part to hold EPA Section 608 certification, no matter what state they work in.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time the filter is clogged and choking off airflow, so check that first. A dirty filter starves the coil of air, and the coil ices over instead of cooling. Low refrigerant from a leak causes the same thing, and that's not something you can fix by yourself. If the filter looks fine and air is moving but it's still warm, the system likely needs a contractor to check the refrigerant charge.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your indoor unit almost always means the condensate drain line is clogged. Your AC pulls a lot of moisture out of the air on a 89°F afternoon, and that water has to drain out through a small line that can fill up with algae or dirt over time. Once it's blocked, the water backs up and drips out wherever it can. A frozen coil that's now thawing will do the same thing, so if the airflow was weak beforehand, that may be the cause instead.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with your thermostat. Check that it has power, the batteries are good if it uses them, and it's set below room temperature. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down with no warning. If power is reaching the unit and it still won't start, the capacitor or a safety switch inside is likely the problem, and that calls for a contractor to open it up and test it.