AC Repair in Gainesville, FL
Air conditioners here run from April through October. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Alachua County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of Gainesville heat wears an AC down
Your air conditioner runs from April through October here, seven months of the year. On afternoons that average 91°F, it is not cycling on and off. It is running long stretches just to hold the house steady, and the compressor and the run capacitor take that load the whole time.
Alachua County has also seen 164 damaging wind events and 16 hail storms over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. That kind of weather hits the condenser sitting outside your home, bending fins and stressing the fan and coil. Between the long summer runtime and what the storms bring through, a unit here can start short cycling or blowing warm air well before it would somewhere milder.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 16 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 164 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $60 a year off cooling for a typical Alachua County home.
Estimates for a typical Alachua 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.
Florida tests and records HVAC contractors through the Construction Industry Licensing Board. The license belongs to the contractor, not to this specific repair. It is a record you can trace back to that board, not just a name printed on a truck.
A repair on your air conditioner means opening the refrigerant lines. That work needs something separate from the state license. Every technician in the country must hold EPA Section 608 certification before touching refrigerant, and Florida is no exception. So two things stand behind this job. The state license accounts for the contractor. The federal certification accounts for the person handling the refrigerant itself.
Sources: Florida Legislature · Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter choking off airflow across the coil. When that happens the coil can ice up and stop cooling the air passing over it. A refrigerant leak will cause the same thing, but that takes a contractor with gauges to confirm. Check the filter first since that's the one thing you can rule out yourself.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water on the floor near your indoor unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. Algae and dirt build up inside that line over time and block the water from draining outside like it should. Once it backs up, it overflows the drain pan and shows up as a puddle. A clogged drain line is a common repair and not a sign anything else is wrong with the unit.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with your thermostat batteries and your breaker panel, since both are easy to check and cause this often. If the breaker keeps tripping when you reset it, don't keep flipping it back on, that points to an electrical problem that needs a contractor. A capacitor that has failed will also keep the unit from starting, and that's a quick fix once diagnosed.