AC Repair in Covington, GA
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Newton County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Georgia heat wears an AC down
From May through September your air conditioner is working most days, and on the afternoons that hit 89°F it runs close to nonstop trying to keep up. That kind of stretch puts real strain on the compressor and the capacitor that helps start it. When a capacitor weakens, the outdoor unit hums but the fan won't spin, or the whole system trips off before the house cools down.
Newton County has also seen its share of rough weather, six hail events and 39 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Hail up to 1.75 inches can bend the thin fins on your outdoor coil, and wind-blown debris gets pulled into the unit and scratches or clogs them. Once those fins are damaged, the coil can't shed heat the way it should, and the air coming from your vents turns weaker and less cold.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 89°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 6 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 39 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 Newton County home.
Estimates for a typical Newton 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.
Georgia licenses HVAC contractors through the State Construction Industry Licensing Board. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license stands behind everything that contractor does, including the repair on this page.
For an air conditioner repair, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. If the repair opens the refrigerant side of the system, the technician also needs EPA Section 608 certification. That is a federal rule in every state, not something Georgia adds on top, and it exists because refrigerant has to be recovered and handled a certain way. Georgia's license covers the contractor. The federal certification covers the refrigerant work itself.
Source: Georgia Secretary of State
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common reason is a dirty air filter choking off airflow across the coil. When that happens the coil can ice up, and once it's iced over the air coming through the vents turns warm. Low refrigerant from a leak causes the same thing, but that's not something to check yourself. Turn the system off, replace the filter if it's dirty, and if the air is still warm after a few hours a contractor will need to check the refrigerant charge and the coil.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Usually the drain line is clogged. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air as it cools, and that water is supposed to run out through a condensate drain line to the outside. Algae and dirt build up in that line over time and block it, so the water backs up and drips inside instead. A frozen coil that's now thawing will do the same thing, so if the air was blowing warm before you noticed water, that's likely the cause.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker. Check that the thermostat is set to cool and below room temperature, and check your breaker panel for a tripped breaker, since AC units draw enough power that a breaker trip is common. If those look fine, it could be a bad capacitor or a wiring issue at the outdoor unit, and that's something a licensed contractor needs to test with the power off. Georgia requires HVAC contractors to be licensed through the State Construction Industry Licensing Board, so make sure whoever you call holds one.