AC Repair in Athens, GA
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Clarke County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Athens heat wears on your AC
Your air conditioner runs from May through September here, with summer afternoons averaging 88°F. That is five straight months where the compressor and the fan motor barely get a break, especially once the afternoon heat sets in and stays there into the evening.
That kind of steady load wears on the capacitor that helps start the compressor and on the fan motor that pulls air through the outdoor unit. When one of those starts to go, you notice the AC struggling to keep up on the hottest afternoons, cycling more than it used to, or blowing air that is not as cold as it should be. Clarke County has also seen 48 damaging wind events and 10 hail storms over the past ten years, and a hard enough hit can bend the fins on the outdoor coil or damage the fan itself.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 88°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 10 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 48 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 Clarke County home.
Estimates for a typical Clarke County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Georgia 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.
Georgia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The State Construction Industry Licensing Board issues that license, and it belongs to the contractor, not to any single job. That means the same license has to be in place whether the work is a full system change-out or a single repair call in Clarke County.
For a repair like this, the license is what stands behind the work. Air conditioners run on refrigerant, and any technician who opens that side of the system, to check a charge or fix a leak, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That is a federal rule, and it applies no matter what state the work happens in.
Source: Georgia Secretary of State
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time the filter is clogged and starving the system of airflow, or the refrigerant is low from a leak in the coil or lines. A dirty outdoor coil can cause the same thing, since it stops the system from releasing heat the way it needs to. With Athens summers running 88°F on many afternoons for five months straight, a system already low on refrigerant will struggle to keep up. Check the filter first. If it is clean and the air is still warm, a contractor will need to check refrigerant levels and look for a leak.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The condensate drain line is probably clogged, backing water up until it overflows the drain pan. Algae and dust build up inside that line over a cooling season and block it slowly, so this tends to show up mid-summer rather than right when the system starts. A frozen evaporator coil will also drip water once it thaws, usually from low refrigerant or blocked airflow. A contractor can clear the line or find out why the coil is freezing.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat batteries and the breaker before assuming the worst. A tripped breaker, a blown fuse at the outdoor unit, or a thermostat that has lost power will all keep the system from starting even though nothing is actually broken. Athens sees an average of nearly five damaging wind events a year, and storms like that can trip a breaker or cause a brief power interruption that leaves the system needing a reset. If the breaker holds and the thermostat has power but the unit still will not run, a contractor will need to check the capacitor or the contactor.