AC Repair in Camden, SC
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Kershaw County will get in touch.
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Five months of Camden summer wears on your AC
From May through September your air conditioner is the only thing standing between your house and a 90 degree afternoon. That is five months of the compressor cycling on and off, day after day, to keep up.
Kershaw County has also seen its share of rough weather, with 24 hail events and 116 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Hail up to 2.5 inches can bend the thin fins on your outdoor unit's coil, and high winds can knock debris into the fan or the coil itself. When that happens, the unit has to work harder to move heat outside, and you notice it as warm air coming from the vents or a system that runs longer than it used to.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 24 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 116 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $50 a year off cooling for a typical Kershaw County home.
Estimates for a typical Kershaw County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, South Carolina 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?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter choking off airflow, so check that first. A refrigerant leak is another common reason, and that will need a contractor since it has to be found and sealed before the system can be recharged. If the outdoor unit isn't running at all while the indoor fan blows, the compressor or capacitor may have failed. With summer afternoons here averaging 90°F, a system that's low on refrigerant or short on airflow will struggle to keep up.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Usually the condensate drain line is clogged, and water is backing up instead of draining outside. Algae and dirt build up inside that line over time and block it. A dirty air filter can also cause this, because it lets the evaporator coil ice over, and when the ice melts it produces more water than the drain pan can handle. Either way, the line needs to be cleared or the airflow problem fixed before the leaking stops.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it's set to cool, the temperature is below room temperature, and the batteries aren't dead. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down. With 116 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, a breaker trip after a storm is a common reason an AC won't start back up. If the breaker is fine and the system still won't run, a contractor will need to check the capacitor or the control board.