AC Repair in Fort Payne, AL
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers DeKalb County will get in touch.
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It takes about a minute.
Five months of heat, and storms in between
Your AC runs from May through September here, and on afternoons that average 86°F it doesn't get much of a break. That kind of steady load wears on the compressor and the capacitor that starts it. When the capacitor weakens, the unit hums or clicks but the compressor won't turn over, and the air coming out goes warm.
DeKalb County has also logged 203 damaging wind events and 24 hail storms over the past ten years, with hail up to 2.5 inches. Wind can bend the fins on your outdoor unit or knock debris into it, and hail that size can dent the cabinet or the coil underneath it. Either one cuts down the airflow the system needs to cool your house.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 24 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 203 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 DeKalb County home.
Estimates for a typical DeKalb 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 state board tests contractors before it licenses them, then keeps a record of who holds one. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single repair, so it does not expire or reset when the job is done.
For a repair like this, that license is what stands behind the person working on your air conditioner. If the repair opens the refrigerant side of the system, the technician also has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, which is a federal requirement in every state and separate from the Alabama license. The state license and the federal certification cover different things, and a repair that touches refrigerant needs both.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most often the filter is clogged and starving the system of airflow, or the refrigerant level is low from a leak somewhere in the line. A dirty outdoor coil can cause the same thing, since it stops the unit from releasing heat properly. Check the filter first, since that is the one thing you can rule out yourself. If it is clean and you still get warm air, the system needs a contractor to check refrigerant levels and pressures.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The condensate drain line is probably clogged, and water is backing up instead of draining outside. This happens more in summer here because the system runs long hours from May through September and produces more condensate to carry away. A frozen evaporator coil that is now thawing can also cause a sudden puddle. Either way, a contractor needs to clear the line or find out why the coil froze in the first place.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped too high will stop the system from starting at all. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker, since a tripped breaker cuts power to the whole unit. With 203 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, breaker trips and power interruptions are common enough to check before assuming something bigger is wrong. If the breaker holds and the thermostat is calling for cooling but nothing happens, the system needs a contractor to look at it.