AC Repair in Hartsville, SC
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Darlington County will get in touch.
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Five months of 90 degree afternoons wear an AC down
Your air conditioner runs from May through September here, and on a lot of those afternoons it is working against 90 degrees outside. That means long run times, day after day, with the compressor and the fan motor carrying the load for months without much of a break.
Darlington County also gets its share of rough weather. Ten years of storm records show 18 hail events and 129 damaging wind events in the area. Hail can dent or puncture the thin fins on your outdoor unit, and wind carries debris that bends them or gets pulled into the fan. Either one cuts down the airflow your system needs to cool the house, and you notice it as warm air at the vents or a unit 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
- 18 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 129 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 Darlington County home.
Estimates for a typical Darlington 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 across the coil, but low refrigerant from a leak and a failing compressor cause this too. With summer afternoons here running around 90°F, a system already low on refrigerant struggles even more to keep up. Check the filter first. If it's clean and air still isn't cold, a contractor will need to check refrigerant charge and the compressor.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged or the drain pan has rusted through. Algae and dirt build up inside the drain line over time and block it, so water backs up and spills out instead of draining outside. A frozen evaporator coil that then thaws can also flood the pan faster than it can drain. A contractor can clear the line or replace the pan depending on what's causing it.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat, a tripped breaker, or a blown fuse, since those stop the system before it ever starts. Outdoor units here take a beating from storms, and with 129 damaging wind events and 18 hail events recorded in this area over the past ten years, debris or hail damage to the outdoor unit or its wiring is worth ruling out too. If the thermostat has power and the breaker is fine, a contractor will need to check the capacitor and wiring.