AC Repair in Herndon, VA
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Fairfax County will get in touch.
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Four months of hard running in Herndon summers
Your AC gets four months to do most of its work here, June through September, and it runs hard through afternoons that average 86°F. That kind of steady load wears on the compressor and the fan motor, the parts that carry the heat outside all day long.
Herndon has also seen 387 damaging wind events and 51 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2 inches recorded. Wind drives debris into the outdoor unit's coil and fins, and hail can dent or bend them. Once that happens, the unit struggles to move heat the way it should, and you notice the house not cooling like it used to, or the system running longer to get there.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 51 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 387 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 Fairfax County home.
Estimates for a typical Fairfax 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.
The license covers the contractor as a business, not the individual repair. It stays on file with the Board for Contractors rather than being issued per visit. Virginia sets one carve-out. Work under $1,000 does not need a licensed contractor.
Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That rule comes from the federal government, not the state, and it applies no matter where you live. It has nothing to do with Virginia's license. One is the state's record of the contractor. The other is the credential tied to handling refrigerant itself. A repair on your air conditioner touches both.
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, so start there before anything else. A clogged filter starves the coil of air and can freeze it over, and once it's frozen, air blows but it isn't cold. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common cause, and that takes a licensed technician with EPA 608 certification to test and repair, since only a certified tech can open the refrigerant side. If the filter is clean and air still isn't cold, the compressor itself may not be running, and a contractor will need to check it.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most of the time this means the condensate drain line is clogged, and water that should run outside is backing up into the house instead. Algae and dust build up in that line over a summer of steady use and block it. A dirty filter can also cause this indirectly, since it lets the coil ice over, and the water shows up when that ice melts faster than the drain can handle. Either way, the fix is clearing or repairing the drain system, not something to leave alone since the water can damage the area around the unit.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped to off is the simplest explanation and the easiest to rule out. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker, since a tripped breaker will stop the unit cold with no other symptoms. Herndon sees its share of damaging wind and hail through the year, and a power blip during a storm can trip a breaker without anyone noticing. If the breaker is fine and the thermostat is calling for cooling but nothing happens, the problem is likely inside the unit itself, and that calls for a licensed contractor to diagnose.