AC Repair in Orlando, FL
Air conditioners here run from March through November. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Orange County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Nine months of cooling wears a system down
Your air conditioner runs from March through November here, and on summer afternoons that average 91°F, it runs long and hard to keep up. That kind of runtime adds up fast on the compressor and the fan motor, the parts that carry the load hour after hour.
Orange County has also logged 64 damaging wind events and 47 hail storms over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Outdoor units sit exposed to all of it. Wind can bend the fins on the condenser coil, and hail can dent the cabinet or damage the fan blade, and any of that can show up as an AC that runs but no longer cools the way it did.
- 9 months
- March through November, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 47 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 64 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $80 a year off cooling for a typical Orange County home.
Estimates for a typical Orange 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. That record follows the contractor, not the job in front of them, so the same license covers the next repair and the one after that.
For a repair on your air conditioner, this means the person working on it should hold that state license. If the job involves opening the refrigerant lines, which most air conditioner repairs do, federal law also requires the technician to hold EPA Section 608 certification, the same rule that applies in every state. The Florida license and the federal certification cover two different things, and this job calls for both.
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, so the coil freezes up and stops pulling heat from the air. A low refrigerant charge from a leak does the same thing, and a failing compressor can run without cooling at all. With nine months of cooling season here, a filter that would last longer elsewhere can clog fast, so check it first. If it's clean and you still get warm air, a contractor will need to check the charge and the compressor.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water on the floor near your indoor unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged, so the water backs up and spills out instead of draining outside. Algae and dust build up in that line over time, especially with a system that runs most of the year. A dirty air filter can also cause this, since restricted airflow lets the coil ice over, then drip as it thaws. If the drain pan itself has rusted through, water will leak no matter how clear the line is.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with your thermostat's batteries and settings, since those cause more no-start calls than people expect. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel. A tripped breaker or a blown fuse at the outdoor unit will keep the whole system dead. Storms are common here, and 64 damaging wind events over the past ten years have knocked out power or tripped breakers on plenty of homes. If power is reaching the unit and it still won't start, a contractor will need to check the capacitor and the contactor inside the outdoor unit.