AC Repair in Florence, AL
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lauderdale County will get in touch.
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It takes about a minute.
Five months of heat, and storms in between
Your air conditioner in Florence runs from May through September, and on those 89°F afternoons it doesn't get much of a break. That kind of steady demand wears on the compressor and the capacitor that helps start it. When a capacitor weakens, the unit hums but the fan won't turn, or the compressor struggles to kick on.
Lauderdale County has also logged 653 damaging wind events and 26 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Wind can rock the outdoor unit on its pad or bend the fan cage, and hail that size can dent the coil fins that need to stay open for the unit to release heat. If your system is running but not cooling like it should, that outdoor coil is worth a look.
- 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
A new air conditioner would cut about $50 a year off cooling for a typical Lauderdale County home.
Estimates for a typical Lauderdale 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.
That license comes from the Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors, and it covers the contractor as a business, not the individual visit to your house.
For a repair on your air conditioner, whoever opens the refrigerant lines also has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That is federal, and it applies no matter what state you're in. The state license is what stands behind the contractor overall. The federal certification is what says the person handling the refrigerant in your unit was trained to do it without venting it into the air or mishandling it.
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 starving the system of airflow, so check that first since it sits right in the return duct. A dirty filter can ice up the coil, and once that happens you get weak air that isn't cold until the ice melts. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common cause, and that one needs a licensed contractor since it involves recovering and replacing refrigerant under state rules. If the filter looks clean and the air is still warm, have a contractor check the refrigerant charge and the coil before summer heat makes the house harder to cool down.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The condensate drain line is probably clogged, which is the most common reason water shows up around the indoor unit. That line carries away the water the coil pulls out of the air, and algae or dirt can block it over months of summer use. A dirty air filter can also cause this, because restricted airflow lets the coil ice over, and the water shows up when it thaws. If the pan or line is cracked instead of clogged, that's a repair a contractor needs to look at directly.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker, since a dead battery or a tripped breaker are the most common reasons a system won't start at all. If those check out, the capacitor that gives the compressor and fan motor their starting jolt may have failed, which is a common failure point in systems that run hard all summer. With 653 damaging wind events recorded in this area over the past ten years, a power blip can also trip a safety switch on the outdoor unit that needs to be reset. If the thermostat has power and the breaker is on but the system still won't run, a licensed contractor will need to diagnose it.