AC Repair in Tuscaloosa, AL
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Tuscaloosa County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of heat in a row wears an AC down
From May through September your air conditioner runs almost every day, and on the afternoons that hit 90°F it runs close to all day. That kind of stretch wears on the parts that keep the system going, especially the capacitor and the fan motor. When one of those weakens, the outdoor unit hums but the fan won't turn, or the compressor tries to start and can't.
Tuscaloosa County has also seen 66 damaging wind events and 27 hail storms in the past ten years, with hail up to 2.5 inches. Wind can bend the fins on the outdoor coil or knock debris into the unit, and hail that size dents the cabinet and the coil behind it. Either one shows up as an AC that runs but cools less than it used to.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 27 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 66 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $60 a year off cooling for a typical Tuscaloosa County home.
Estimates for a typical Tuscaloosa 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.
Alabama's license belongs to the contractor, not to the job, so the same license that covers a new install is what covers a repair call like this one.
If the repair means opening the refrigerant side of your air conditioner, whoever does that work also has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That is a federal rule and it applies no matter which state you're in. Between the state license and that certification, both the contractor and the refrigerant work itself are accounted for.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter choking off airflow, so check that first. A refrigerant leak will also do this, and so will a frozen evaporator coil, which often happens because airflow was already restricted. If the outdoor unit isn't running while the indoor blower is, the compressor or a capacitor may have failed. Summer afternoons here average 90°F, and a system that's low on refrigerant or short on airflow struggles even more in that heat, so it's worth having a contractor check it before the next hot stretch.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your AC usually means the condensate drain line is clogged, and the pan is overflowing instead of draining outside. Algae and dust build up in that line over the cooling season and block it. A frozen evaporator coil will cause the same thing once it thaws, since the water has nowhere to go but the pan. Either way, shut the system off until a contractor clears the line or finds what's freezing the coil, since water damage to the house is the real risk here.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it has power and is set to cool. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will keep the whole system dead. A capacitor or contactor failure inside the outdoor unit is another common cause, and that's something only a licensed contractor should open up and test. Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, so make sure whoever works on it holds one.