AC Repair in Miami, FL
If your air conditioner quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Miami-Dade County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Your AC works twelve months a year here, and it shows
There is no season off. Your air conditioner runs every month of the year, and on summer afternoons that average 91°F, it runs long and hard to keep up. That kind of runtime wears on the compressor and the capacitor that helps start it.
Miami-Dade has also seen 80 damaging wind events and 52 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Wind can rattle or knock loose the outdoor unit's fan and housing, and hail that size can dent the condenser coil's fins, cutting into the airflow it needs to cool the refrigerant. When that coil is damaged, you notice it as air that never quite feels as cold as it should.
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 52 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 80 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 Miami-Dade County home.
Estimates for a typical Miami-Dade 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 state tested this contractor before handing out that license, and the Construction Industry Licensing Board keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to this specific repair, so it stays with them from one job to the next rather than being issued fresh each time someone calls.
For a repair like this one, that license is the thing standing behind the work. If the job means opening the refrigerant side of the system, whoever does that also has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, a federal requirement that applies no matter which state the work happens in. That certification is separate from the Florida license, and it covers the refrigerant itself rather than the rest of the job.
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, so check that first since it is the easiest to fix yourself. If the filter is clean, the refrigerant level could be low, which usually means a leak somewhere in the line. Running cooling nearly all year here means the system gets little rest, and a refrigerant leak or a failing compressor will show up as warm air instead of cold. A licensed contractor can check the refrigerant charge and find the leak, since Florida requires that license for anyone working on the system.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your unit almost always means the condensate drain line is clogged. As the system pulls humidity out of the air, that water is supposed to run out through the drain line, and algae or dirt can block it over time. When it backs up, the water has nowhere to go but out of the unit and onto your floor. A clogged drain line is a common repair and a contractor can clear it.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker, since a dead battery or a tripped breaker is often the reason. If those check out, the capacitor may have failed, which is a small part that gives the compressor and fan motor the jolt they need to start. Summer storms here bring damaging wind and lightning, and a power surge during one of those events can be enough to take out a capacitor or other electrical part. If the system still will not start after checking the thermostat and breaker, it needs a contractor to look at the electrical components.