AC Repair in Gaffney, SC
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Cherokee County will get in touch.
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Five months of hard running in Gaffney heat
Your air conditioner works May through September here, with summer afternoons averaging 88°F. That is five straight months where the system runs long hours just to hold the house steady, and the compressor and fan motor carry that load the whole time.
Cherokee County also sees its share of rough weather, with 49 damaging wind events and 18 hail storms over the past ten years, some with hail up to 2 inches. Wind can knock debris into the outdoor unit, and hail that size can dent or crack the fan blades and coil fins on the condenser. If your air conditioner is suddenly running weaker or louder after a storm, that outdoor unit is where to look first.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 88°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 18 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 49 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $40 a year off cooling for a typical Cherokee County home.
Estimates for a typical Cherokee 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, but low refrigerant from a leak and a frozen evaporator coil are common too. A dirty coil or a failing compressor can also be behind it. If the air is coming out warm rather than weak, that points more toward refrigerant or the compressor than the filter. A contractor can check the refrigerant charge and the coil to find which one it is.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most of the time this means the condensate drain line is clogged. Your AC pulls a lot of moisture out of the air on a 88°F afternoon, and that water has to travel down a small drain line to get outside. Algae and dirt build up in that line over a cooling season and block it, so the water backs up and drips inside instead. A frozen evaporator coil that then thaws can cause the same thing, so a contractor will check both the coil and the drain line.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker before assuming the worst. Check that the thermostat is set to cool and below the room temperature, and check the breaker panel for a tripped breaker, since a unit working hard through a Gaffney summer can trip one. If those are fine, the capacitor or the contactor inside the outdoor unit may have failed, and those need a contractor to test and replace. With 49 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, it is also worth checking that nothing near the outdoor unit was knocked loose.