AC Repair in Portsmouth, VA
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Portsmouth will get in touch.
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Five months of Portsmouth heat wears on your AC
From May through September your air conditioner is working most days, and Portsmouth summer afternoons average 86°F. That kind of steady run time adds up on the compressor and the fan motor, the parts that carry the load every time the system cycles on.
Wind is the other thing that catches units here. The area has logged 22 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and outdoor units sit exposed to that. A bent fin or a knocked loose panel can throw off airflow over the coil, and you notice it as a system that runs longer than it used to or doesn't cool the house like it did.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 1 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 22 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 Portsmouth home.
Estimates for a typical Portsmouth 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.
That license is on file with the Board for Contractors, and it covers the contractor as a whole, not the specific repair. Virginia does carve out an exception. Work under $1,000 does not need a licensed contractor.
Whoever opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That comes from federal law, not the state, and it applies no matter what the job costs. The Virginia license is what the contractor answers to. The federal certification is what makes it legal to touch the refrigerant in the first place.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is low refrigerant, usually from a leak somewhere in the coil or the lines. It can also mean the compressor has failed, or the outdoor unit is so dirty it cannot shed heat. A dirty air filter can cause the same symptom by starving the system of airflow, so check that first. If the filter is clean and air is still warm, the refrigerant side needs a licensed contractor, since only someone with EPA Section 608 certification is allowed to open it.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most often the drain line is clogged, and water is backing up instead of running outside. It can also mean the condensate pan has rusted through, or the evaporator coil has frozen and is now melting onto the floor. A coil freezes when airflow is blocked, often by a dirty filter or a closed vent. Clearing a simple clog is sometimes a small enough job that Virginia does not require a licensed contractor, but a frozen coil or a cracked pan is worth having someone look at.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it has power, is set to cool, and the temperature is actually below the room. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker, since a tripped breaker will keep the whole system dead. Beyond that, it could be a failed capacitor or a safety switch that has shut the unit down on purpose, and that points to a contractor rather than something to keep testing yourself.