AC Repair in Greenville, SC
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Greenville County will get in touch.
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Five months of heat, hard on the same parts every year
Your air conditioner runs from May through September in Greenville County, and on summer afternoons that average 87°F it does not get much of a break. The compressor runs long hours to keep up, and the capacitor that helps start it takes the strain of every cycle. When a capacitor weakens, the outdoor unit may hum but the fan will not turn, or the whole system stops cooling and just moves warm air.
Greenville County has also logged 78 hail events and 122 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail as large as 2.5 inches. Hail that size can dent the thin aluminum fins on the outdoor coil, and a bent or blocked coil cannot shed heat the way it should. If your air conditioner is running longer than it used to, or the air coming out feels warmer than it should, that is often where to look.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 78 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 122 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 Greenville County home.
Estimates for a typical Greenville 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 start there before anything else. A frozen evaporator coil, low refrigerant, or a failing compressor can also cause this, and each needs a contractor to check with gauges and a look at the system. With summer afternoons here averaging 87°F, a system that's low on refrigerant or losing airflow will struggle to keep up, so it's worth getting looked at before the next hot stretch.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged, so the water that's normally carried away is backing up and finding another way out. Algae and dirt build up in that line over time, especially during the months your AC runs most. A frozen evaporator coil that's now thawing can cause the same thing, so a contractor will need to check both before clearing it.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check your thermostat first. Make sure it's set to cool and the batteries aren't dead, since that's an easy fix you can rule out yourself. If that's not it, a tripped breaker, a blown fuse, or a bad capacitor are the usual reasons a system won't start, and a contractor will need to test the electrical side to find which one it is. With 122 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, it's also worth having the outdoor unit checked for storm damage if it hasn't run since the last one.