AC Repair in Roanoke, VA
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Roanoke will get in touch.
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Four months of heat, hard on the condenser
Roanoke only asks for cooling from June through September, but it asks hard. Summer afternoons average 86°F, and the condenser outside runs long hours trying to keep up. That steady load wears on the compressor and the fan motor, the parts doing the work in that outdoor unit.
Storms add to the wear. The area has seen 34 damaging wind events over the past ten years, along with hail. Wind-blown debris and hail can bend the thin fins on the condenser coil or knock a wire connection loose, and you may not notice until the next hot afternoon when the system runs and the house does not cool like it should.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 2 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 34 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 Roanoke home.
Estimates for a typical Roanoke 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 Board for Contractors is the state agency that holds this license, and it covers the contractor, not the specific job. If your repair comes to less than $1,000, Virginia does not require a licensed contractor at all.
A repair on your air conditioner usually means opening the refrigerant side of the system, and federal law requires whoever does that to hold EPA Section 608 certification, no matter what state they work in. That certification is separate from the Virginia license, and it applies whether or not the job falls under that $1,000 line.
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 from a leak, but a dirty filter or a coil frozen over from restricted airflow can do the same thing. If the outdoor unit is running but the air at your vents is warm or barely cool, check the filter first since that's the one thing you can rule out yourself. Anything involving the refrigerant lines has to be handled by a technician with EPA 608 certification, which every AC technician is required to hold.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Usually the drain line is clogged and water is backing up instead of draining outside. It can also mean the coil has frozen and is now thawing and dripping, which points back to an airflow or refrigerant problem. Either way water pooling near your indoor unit is worth having looked at soon, since it can damage the floor or the unit itself the longer it sits.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker, since a dead battery or a tripped breaker is an easy fix and rules those out fast. If both check out and the system still won't start, the problem is likely inside the unit itself, in a part like the capacitor or the control board. A licensed contractor can diagnose which one it is and price the repair for your system.