AC Repair in North Port, FL
Air conditioners here run from February through December. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Sarasota County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of cooling wears an AC down fast
Your air conditioner runs from February through December here, eleven months a year. Summer afternoons averaging 92°F push it hardest in the late afternoon, when it runs longest to keep the house cool.
That much runtime wears on the parts that cycle every time the compressor starts, the capacitor and the contactor. A weak capacitor can't get the compressor started, and you will hear the unit hum or click without the air ever coming on. Sarasota County has also logged 18 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and wind that strong can knock an outdoor unit out of alignment or drive debris into the coil.
- 11 months
- February through December, your air conditioner is on duty
- 92°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 3 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 18 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 Sarasota County home.
Estimates for a typical Sarasota 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 tested this contractor before handing out that license, and it keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to your particular repair, so it travels with them from job to job rather than getting issued fresh each time.
For an air conditioner repair, that state license is what stands behind the work itself. If the repair involves opening the refrigerant side of your system, whoever does that also has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, a federal requirement that applies in every state regardless of what Florida does on top of it.
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, which can cause the coil to freeze. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common reason, and that will not fix itself by adding more, since the leak has to be found and sealed first. A failing compressor can also leave you with air moving but no cooling behind it. With summer afternoons here averaging 92°F, a system that is not cooling right needs attention quickly, since it will keep running hard without relief.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most often the condensate drain line is clogged, and water backs up and spills out instead of draining away. A dirty air filter can also cause the coil to freeze, and when it thaws it can produce more water than the drain pan and line are set up to handle at once. Less often, the condensate pump has failed or the drain pan itself has rusted through. Since cooling runs nearly year round here, a clogged line can build up fast and is worth checking before it causes water damage.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first, since dead batteries or a setting bumped off cool will stop the system before it ever starts. A tripped breaker or a blown fuse at the outdoor unit is another common cause. If the outdoor unit has taken a direct hit from a storm, damage to the electrical connections or the fan motor can also keep it from starting, and with 18 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, that is worth ruling out. A licensed contractor can test the system and find which of these it is.