AC Repair in Chester, VA
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Chesterfield County will get in touch.
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Five months of Chester summer heat wears on your AC
From May through September your air conditioner is the only thing standing between your house and a 87°F afternoon. It runs long hours, day after day, to keep up. That kind of steady run time wears on the compressor and the capacitor that gets it started, and when one of them gives out, the unit either won't start at all or runs without ever cooling the house.
Chester also sees its share of hail and wind. Ten years of storm records show 42 hail events and 138 damaging wind events in the area, with hail up to 3 inches. That kind of weather can bend the fins on the outdoor coil or damage the fan, and you'll notice it as weaker cooling or a unit that suddenly runs loud.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 42 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 138 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 Chesterfield County home.
Estimates for a typical Chesterfield 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 get a license and keeps a record of who holds one. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license covers a repair whether it's a small fix or a full system swap. The one exception is work under $1,000, which the state doesn't require a licensed contractor to perform.
For a repair on your air conditioner, the state license is what stands behind the person doing the work, but it's not the only credential in play. Anyone who opens the refrigerant side of your system, which most AC repairs involve, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That's a federal requirement, the same in every state, and it exists separately from Virginia's contractor license.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter choking off airflow, followed by low refrigerant from a leak. A clogged filter makes the coil freeze up, and once that happens the air coming out feels warm even though the system is running fine otherwise. Low refrigerant means a leak somewhere in the line set or coil, and that's not something you can add to yourself. A contractor with EPA 608 certification has to handle any work on the refrigerant side, that's a federal rule everywhere.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your unit almost always means the condensate drain line is clogged or the drain pan has rusted through. Algae and dust build up inside that line over a season of running, and once it's blocked the water backs up and finds another way out, usually down through your ceiling or wall if the unit is in an attic. A frozen coil that's thawing out will also drip more than the pan can handle. Either way it's worth turning the system off until someone looks at it, since water damage adds up fast.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with your thermostat batteries and your breaker panel, those two account for a lot of no-start calls. If the breaker keeps tripping when you reset it, don't keep resetting it, that usually means the compressor or a wire is drawing too much current and needs a contractor to look at it. A tripped breaker can also follow a bad storm, and Chester sees its share of damaging wind, so check your outdoor unit for anything that hit it if the weather's been rough. If power and the thermostat both check out, the problem is inside the system and needs a licensed contractor to diagnose.