AC Repair in Poughkeepsie, NY
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Dutchess County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months to do all its work
Your air conditioner in Poughkeepsie gets one season to prove itself, June through August, with summer afternoons averaging 81°F. That means the compressor is cycling on and off, or running steady, through most of those days. A capacitor that is already weak tends to give out under that kind of steady load, and a compressor that is already struggling often fails right in the middle of it.
Dutchess County has also logged 341 damaging wind events and 19 hail storms over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Wind strong enough to be recorded as damaging can rock the outdoor unit and work its electrical connections loose. Hail that size can bend the fins on the outdoor coil, and bent fins block the airflow the system needs to cool your home. If your air conditioner is blowing warm air or the outdoor unit is struggling, one of these is often why.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 19 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 341 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 Dutchess County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Dutchess 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 enough that air can't move past it, or the refrigerant level has dropped from a leak. A dirty filter chokes airflow across the indoor coil until it can't pull heat out of the air anymore, and that's the easy fix to check first. If the filter is clean and the air is still warm, the coil may be frozen over or the system is low on refrigerant, and either one needs a contractor to look at the coil and check pressures.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The drain line that carries condensation away from the indoor coil is clogged or disconnected. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air every time it runs, and that water has to drain out through the line built for it. When the line backs up, the water finds another way out, usually down through the ceiling or into the cabinet around the unit. A contractor can clear the line and check that it's pitched and connected the way it should be.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first, then the breaker. A dead thermostat battery or a setting bumped off cool will stop the system before it ever gets a call to run. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will cut power to the whole unit. With 341 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, a breaker tripped by a power surge is common enough to check before assuming the worst. If the breaker holds and the thermostat is set correctly, the problem is likely inside the unit and worth having a contractor look at.