AC Repair in Rochester, NY
Air conditioners here run from July through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Monroe County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of real work, then long idle stretches
Your air conditioner in Monroe County only earns its keep in July and August, when afternoons average 79°F. That is not a hard summer as summers go, but it means the system sits unused most of the year and then gets asked to start up and run on the first hot day without warning.
The bigger issue here is what sits outside all year. Monroe County has logged 154 damaging wind events and 15 hail events over the past ten years. Wind drives debris into the outdoor unit and can knock the cabinet or fan out of true. Hail up to an inch has come down hard enough to bend the thin aluminum fins on the condenser coil. Bent fins block airflow, and a unit that cannot pull air through its coil will run long and cool poorly, even though the compressor itself is fine.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 79°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 15 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 154 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 Monroe County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Monroe 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?
- Usually it is a dirty air filter or low refrigerant. A clogged filter chokes off airflow across the indoor coil, and once that coil ices up you get warm air or none at all. Low refrigerant means a leak somewhere in the line set or coil, and that will not fix itself. If the filter looks clean, the system needs a contractor to check refrigerant levels and look for a leak.
- 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 the drain line to the outside. Algae and dirt build up in that line over time and back the water up into the house. A frozen coil that then thaws out fast can cause the same kind of leak, so if you have noticed weak airflow before the leak, mention that to whoever comes to look at it.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first, since dead batteries or a setting bumped off cool will stop the whole system before it ever starts. If the thermostat looks right, look at the breaker panel. A tripped breaker cuts power to the outdoor unit and the AC will not run at all until it is reset. If the breaker keeps tripping once you reset it, stop resetting it and get a contractor to find out why.