AC Repair in Fort Lauderdale, FL
If your air conditioner quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Broward County will get in touch.
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Your AC runs all year here, and it doesn't get a break
In Fort Lauderdale, your air conditioner works every month of the year. There's no fall or spring where it gets to rest. Summer afternoons average 91°F, and the compressor runs long hours to keep up, day after day.
That kind of constant run time wears on the parts that keep the system going. Capacitors weaken. Contactors pit and stick. Refrigerant lines that cycle on and off for twelve straight months take more strain than ones that get a few months off. You notice it as the air coming from the vents turning warmer, or the outdoor unit running longer than it used to just to get the house to the same temperature.
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 54 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 81 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $90 a year off cooling for a typical Broward County home.
Estimates for a typical Broward County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Florida 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.
Florida requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Construction Industry Licensing Board tests contractors before they're allowed to hold that license, and it keeps a record of who holds one. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license that covers a new install covers a repair call.
For a repair on your air conditioner, that license is what stands behind the work. If the job involves opening the refrigerant side of the system, the technician also needs EPA Section 608 certification, which is required everywhere in the country, not just in Florida. Between the two, the state has covered who's allowed to do the work and the federal rule covers who's allowed to handle the refrigerant inside it.
Sources: Florida Legislature · Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common reason is a dirty air filter choking off airflow across the coil. When that happens the coil can ice up, and once it's iced over the air coming through the vents turns warm. Low refrigerant from a leak causes the same thing. With summer afternoons here running near 91°F, an AC stuck in this state won't catch up on its own, so it needs a contractor to find out which of the two it is.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your AC almost always means the condensate drain line is clogged. That line carries the water your coil pulls out of the air, and algae or dirt inside it will block the path and send water backing up into the house instead. A frozen coil that then thaws will do the same thing, so if the air was blowing weak or warm before you saw water, that's likely the cause. Either way it needs a contractor to clear the line or find why the coil froze.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check your thermostat first, since dead batteries or a setting bumped off cool will stop the system before it ever starts. If the thermostat looks right, check your breaker panel, because a tripped breaker will cut power to the unit outside. Fort Lauderdale sees a fair number of damaging wind events each year, and a surge from a storm is a common reason a breaker trips or a capacitor fails. If the breaker won't stay reset, that points to an electrical problem inside the unit, and it's time to call a licensed contractor.