AC Repair in Kiryas Joel, NY
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Orange County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of hard running, then years of standing idle
Your air conditioner in Kiryas Joel only earns its keep from June through August. It has to do a summer's worth of cooling in a fraction of the year, working hardest on afternoons that average 81°F. Then it sits through fall, winter and spring barely running at all.
That stop and start pattern is hard on a system. A capacitor or contactor that sat unused for months can fail the first hot week it is asked to work. And this area has seen its share of severe weather, including 155 damaging wind events and 9 hail storms over the past ten years, one dropping hail nearly two inches wide. A condenser unit takes that weather straight on, out in the yard with its coil and fan exposed.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 9 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 155 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would save little on running costs in Orange County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Orange County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, New York 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.
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time it is a dirty air filter or the refrigerant level running low. A clogged filter chokes off airflow across the coil, so it can freeze up and only push warm air. If the filter is clean, the problem is more likely a refrigerant leak or something wrong in the compressor, and that calls for a licensed contractor to check pressures and find the leak.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your unit almost always means 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 the drain line. Algae and dirt build up in that line over time and block it, so the water backs up and spills out instead. A clogged drain is also worth checking first if you see water stains on a ceiling below an attic unit.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker before anything else. Check that the thermostat is set to cool and a few degrees below room temperature, and check the breaker box for a tripped switch. If both look fine and the unit still won't start, the capacitor or a safety switch may have failed, and that's a job for a licensed contractor to test.