AC Repair in Phoenix, AZ
Air conditioners here run from April through October. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Maricopa County will get in touch.
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Seven months of heat wears an AC down fast
Your air conditioner runs from April through October here, seven months a year. On summer afternoons that average 103°F, the compressor and condenser fan barely get a break, and that long stretch of hard running is what wears out capacitors and contactors before their time. When one of those fails, the outdoor unit hums but the fan does not spin, or it does not start at all.
Maricopa County has also seen 718 damaging wind events over the past ten years, along with hail up to 2 inches across. Wind drives dust and debris into the condenser coil and fan, and hail can bend the fins or dent the cabinet. Either one shows up as an AC that runs longer than it used to, or blows air that is not as cold as it should be.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 103°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 82 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 718 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $110 a year off cooling for a typical Maricopa County home.
Estimates for a typical Maricopa County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Arizona 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.
Arizona requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Registrar of Contractors tests and licenses the contractor, not the individual job, so the same license that let them wire a new install is the one that covers a repair call to your AC. It means the state has a record of who they are and that they passed the exam to hold that license.
Since Arizona licenses the contractor, that license is what stands behind the work on your air conditioner. If the repair involves opening the refrigerant side of the system, the technician doing that part also needs EPA Section 608 certification, which is a federal requirement in every state and separate from the Arizona license.
Sources: Arizona State Legislature · Arizona Registrar of Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time the refrigerant charge is low, usually from a leak somewhere in the line set or coil. It can also be a dirty air filter choking airflow across the coil until it ices over, or a failing compressor that just can't move refrigerant like it should. With highs around 103°F here, a system running low on charge falls behind fast and may blow air that feels warm rather than cool. Check the filter first, but if that's clean, the system needs a contractor to check the charge and look for the leak.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your indoor unit almost always means the condensate drain line is clogged. Algae and dust build up inside that line over time and block the water from draining where it should, so it backs up and spills out instead. A dirty air filter can cause the same thing indirectly, by making the coil ice over and then drip water everywhere as it melts. Either way, a contractor can clear the line and check the coil to be sure nothing else is causing it.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat, since dead batteries or a setting bumped off cool will stop the system cold. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker box, since a tripped breaker will cut power to the whole unit. Summer storms here bring wind and lightning that can trip breakers or damage outdoor components, so if the breaker keeps tripping after you reset it, don't keep resetting it. That points to an electrical problem inside the unit that a licensed contractor needs to look at.