AC Repair in Stonecrest, GA
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers DeKalb County will get in touch.
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Five months of Georgia heat, every year
Your air conditioner in Stonecrest runs from May through September, with summer afternoons averaging 88°F. That is a long stretch of steady running, and the compressor carries the load the whole time. A weak capacitor or a worn contactor tends to give out right in the middle of that stretch, and the air stops turning cold.
DeKalb County has also logged 132 damaging wind events and 14 hail events over the past ten years, with one hailstone as large as 1.75 inches. The outdoor unit sits exposed to all of it. Bent fins slow the airflow across the coil, and a hard hit can crack a fan blade or dent the cabinet. If your system is cooling less than it used to, the outdoor unit is a good place to start looking.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 88°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 14 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 132 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $60 a year off cooling for a typical DeKalb County home.
Estimates for a typical DeKalb 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 to the contractor, not to each job, so it carries over from one repair to the next rather than being applied for every time someone is hired.
Repairing an air conditioner means working on the refrigerant side of the system, and federal law requires anyone who does that, in Georgia or any other state, to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That certification is separate from the state license. It covers the handling of refrigerant, not the contractor's business or trade skill. The state license accounts for who is doing the work, and the federal certification accounts for how the refrigerant part of the job is done.
Source: Georgia Secretary of State
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Usually it's a dirty filter, a frozen coil, or the system losing refrigerant. A clogged filter chokes off airflow across the coil, and once that coil gets too cold it can ice up and stop cooling altogether. Low refrigerant means a leak somewhere in the line, and that's not something to keep running on since it can damage the compressor. Check the filter first. If it's clean and you're still getting warm air, have a contractor look at the coil and refrigerant charge.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most often the condensate 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 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, then thawing, evaporator coil can cause the same thing, so if you've also noticed weak airflow or ice on the coil, mention that to whoever comes to look at it.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker. Make sure the thermostat is set to cool and below the room temperature, and check that its batteries aren't dead if it uses them. Then check the breaker panel and any shutoff switch near the outdoor unit or furnace, since a tripped breaker is a common reason for a system to go completely dead. With 132 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, storm-related power surges are a real possibility, so if the breaker keeps tripping when you reset it, don't force it again and get a contractor to check the unit.