AC Repair in Manhattan, NY
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers New York County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of hard work in the heat
Your air conditioner in New York County runs from June through September, and on the afternoons that hit 84°F it doesn't get a break. That kind of steady demand wears on the compressor and the fan motor, the parts that carry the load hour after hour on the hottest days.
Most systems here aren't dealing with hail or wind damage. The strain shows up as reduced cooling on the worst afternoons, a system that runs long and still can't keep up, or a compressor that finally gives out right when you need it most.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 4 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 32 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $30 a year off cooling for a typical New York County home.
Estimates for a typical New York 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 often the filter is clogged and starving the system of airflow, or the refrigerant is low from a leak somewhere in the line. A dirty filter makes the coil ice up, and once that happens the air coming out turns warm no matter how hard the unit runs. If you've changed the filter recently and the air is still warm, the refrigerant level needs to be checked, and that takes a licensed contractor with gauges.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The drain line that carries condensation away from your AC is clogged, or the coil has iced over and is now melting onto the floor. That drain line grows algae over time just like a sink pipe does, and once it's blocked the water backs up and spills out of the pan. A contractor can clear the line and check whether the coil froze because of low airflow or low refrigerant.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat batteries and the breaker first, since those cause a good share of no-power complaints. If both are fine, the capacitor that starts the compressor may have failed, which is a common reason a unit goes completely silent. With 32 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, it's also worth checking the outdoor unit for a tripped disconnect switch or storm debris before assuming the worst.