AC Repair in Savannah, GA
Air conditioners here run from May through October. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Chatham County will get in touch.
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Six months of Savannah heat wears an AC down
Your air conditioner runs May through October here, six months of the year. On afternoons that average 91°F, it does not get much of a break to recover before the next day starts the same way. That kind of steady run time wears on the compressor and the capacitor that helps start it, and those are the parts most likely to fail once the heat has had years to work on them.
Chatham County has also logged 246 damaging wind events and 32 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Wind can knock debris into the outdoor unit's fins and fan, and hail that size can dent the cabinet or bend the fins enough to choke off airflow. You notice it as an AC that runs longer than it used to, blows warm air on the worst afternoons, or trips off and won't restart.
- 6 months
- May through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 32 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 246 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $80 a year off cooling for a typical Chatham County home.
Estimates for a typical Chatham 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 tests and records HVAC contractors before they can legally take on jobs like this one in Chatham County. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single repair, so it stands behind everything that contractor does, not just this air conditioner.
On top of that, anyone who opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner to repair it, no matter what state they work in, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That's a federal rule, separate from Georgia's license, and it exists because refrigerant work has its own risks the state license doesn't test for.
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 air can't move through, the coil can ice over and the air coming out of your vents turns warm. Low refrigerant from a leak causes the same thing and won't fix itself, so it needs a licensed contractor to find the leak and recharge the system. A failing compressor is another cause, and that one usually comes with warm air and the outdoor unit running longer than it used to.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most of the time this is a clogged condensate drain line. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air as it cools your home, and that water is supposed to run out through a drain line to the outside. Algae and dirt build up in that line over months and eventually block it, so the water backs up and drips inside instead. A cracked drain pan or a dirty air filter that lets the coil ice over and then melt can cause the same kind of leak.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check your thermostat first, since dead batteries or a setting bumped off cool will stop the system before it ever starts. If the thermostat looks fine, look at your breaker panel. A tripped breaker will keep the unit from starting, and resetting it once is worth trying. If it trips again when you reset it, or the thermostat is working and the unit still won't start, the problem is inside the system and a licensed contractor needs to look at it.