AC Maintenance in Scottsville, VA
Air conditioners here run from June through September, so May is the time for a tune-up. Tell us about your system, and a licensed contractor who covers Albemarle County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of real heat, then months of sitting still
Your air conditioner in Scottsville works hard from June through September, when afternoons average 85°F. The rest of the year it sits unused, and a unit that sits that long needs a check before it is asked to run every day again.
Scottsville has also seen 25 hail events and 268 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hailstones as large as 2.5 inches. The outdoor unit is out in that weather with nowhere to hide from it. A tune-up is the time to look at the coil and the fins for damage a storm left behind, before the summer heat finds it first.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 85°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 25 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 268 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Book your AC tune-up in May, before homes here start needing cooling in June.
- 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.
Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single visit, so it is the business you are hiring that Virginia has tested and put on record, not just the person who shows up. In Virginia, work under $1,000 does not need a licensed contractor, which covers a lot of maintenance calls on their own.
Maintenance on an air conditioner does not usually mean opening the refrigerant side of the system, but if a technician checks refrigerant charge or connects gauges to the lines, federal law requires that technician to hold EPA Section 608 certification, in Virginia and every other state. That certification is separate from the state license and it travels with the person doing the work, not the business name on the invoice.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A technician checks the refrigerant level, cleans the condenser coil, and tests the capacitor and contactor in the outdoor unit. Inside, they check the evaporator coil and the condensate drain, since a clogged drain is one of the more common reasons an AC stops cooling mid-summer. They also check the filter and confirm the thermostat is calling for cooling and the system is responding. Any work that opens the refrigerant lines has to be done by a technician with EPA Section 608 certification, which every contractor doing this work will have.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year is standard, done before the season starts. Here that means getting it looked at before June, since summer runs June through September and afternoons average 85°F, so there is not much room to wait once the heat sets in. A yearly check catches a weak capacitor or a low refrigerant charge before it turns into a breakdown in the middle of summer.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, mainly because it catches small problems while they are still small. A capacitor that is starting to weaken or a coil that is getting dirty will not stop the system right away, but it makes it work harder, and that is how a breakdown happens on the hottest day of the year. Scottsville also sees its share of severe weather, 268 damaging wind events and 25 hail events over the past ten years, and a maintenance visit is a chance to check that the outdoor unit came through storm season without damage to the coil or the fan.