AC Repair in Ashland, VA
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Hanover County will get in touch.
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Four months of heat, hard on the parts that keep it cool
Ashland gets four months of real cooling season, June through September, with afternoons averaging 87°F. That means the system runs long hours day after day, and the parts that keep it running are the ones under the most strain. The capacitor that gets the compressor started and the contactor that switches it on take that load over and over, all summer.
Hanover County has also logged 84 damaging wind events and 13 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2 inches. Wind can knock debris into the outdoor unit or rattle loose the electrical connections. Hail that size can dent the fins on the condenser coil, and a coil that is bent up or blocked cannot shed heat the way it should. When that happens, the system runs longer to cool the same house, or it stops cooling altogether.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 13 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 84 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $40 a year off cooling for a typical Hanover County home.
Estimates for a typical Hanover County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Virginia 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.
Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Virginia's Board for Contractors tests contractors before they can hold this license, and the license belongs to the contractor, not to any single repair. Work under $1,000 falls outside that requirement, so a small job can legally be done without a licensed contractor.
For an air conditioner repair, the license is what stands behind the work if the job costs $1,000 or more. Below that line, the protection shifts to whoever is doing the actual repair work on the refrigerant side. Any technician who opens the refrigerant lines to fix your air conditioner has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, no matter what state they work in.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- 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. A dirty filter chokes the air moving across the indoor coil until it stops pulling heat out of the house. Low refrigerant usually means a leak somewhere in the line, and that needs a licensed technician with EPA 608 certification to find and fix, since opening the refrigerant side requires it by federal law. If the outdoor unit is running but the air inside is only lukewarm, a contractor can check both before assuming which one it is.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The condensate drain line is probably clogged. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air as it cools your house, and that water is supposed to run out through a drain line to the outside. When the line clogs with algae or dirt, the water backs up and drips inside instead, sometimes right at the indoor unit or through the ceiling if the unit sits in an attic. A frozen coil that then thaws can cause the same kind of leak, so a contractor will want to check both the drain and the coil.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker before assuming the worst. Check that the thermostat is set to cool and below the room temperature, and check the breaker panel for a tripped breaker feeding the outdoor unit. If those are fine, the capacitor may have failed, which is a common reason a unit won't start even though power is reaching it. With summer afternoons here averaging 87°F, a unit that won't turn on needs attention quickly, and a licensed contractor can test the capacitor and wiring to find the actual cause.