AC Maintenance in Atlanta, GA
Air conditioners here run from May through September, so April is the time for a tune-up. Tell us about your system, and a licensed contractor who covers Fulton County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Georgia heat wears on a system fast
Your AC in Fulton County runs May through September, with summer afternoons averaging 88°F. That is five straight months of the compressor cycling on and off most days to keep up.
That kind of run time adds up on the parts that keep the system cooling. A tune-up checks refrigerant charge, tests the capacitor, and clears the condenser coil of the dirt and debris that build up over a Georgia summer. Finding a weak capacitor or a low charge in spring means it gets handled before the system is working hardest to keep your house cool.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 88°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 30 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 162 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Book your AC tune-up in April, before homes here start needing cooling in May.
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
A tune-up checks the refrigerant charge, cleans the coils, tests the capacitor and tightens the electrical connections.
Georgia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The State Construction Industry Licensing Board is the body that tests and keeps the record. It licenses the contractor, not the individual visit, so the same license covers this maintenance call and any other job that contractor takes on.
For a maintenance visit, the license is what stands behind the person in your driveway. If the technician opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner to check the charge, they also need EPA Section 608 certification, which is a federal requirement in every state and separate from Georgia's license. Between the two, this is the protection Georgia puts on a routine air conditioner tune-up.
Source: Georgia Secretary of State
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A technician checks refrigerant charge, cleans or checks the condenser coil, tests the capacitor, and inspects electrical connections for wear. They also check the blower and change or check the filter, and confirm the system is cooling to the temperature you set it to. Any of these can cause a breakdown on their own, which is why they get checked together instead of one at a time.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year, in spring, before the heat sets in. Atlanta runs its air conditioners from May through September, so a spring check catches a weak capacitor or a low refrigerant charge before it fails on a 88°F afternoon. Skipping a year does not always cause a breakdown, but it raises the odds of one during the months you need cooling most.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, because most of what causes an air conditioner to fail is found and fixed cheaper before it fails than after. A worn capacitor or a dirty coil can be caught in a maintenance visit and replaced or cleaned before it takes the whole system down. In a county with 507,119 homes running air conditioning for five months a year, and a storm record that includes 162 damaging wind events over the last ten years, a system that has been checked and is running clean is less likely to leave you without cooling when you need it.