AC Repair in St. Augustine, FL
Air conditioners here run from April through October. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers St. Johns County will get in touch.
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Seven months of heat, then the storms on top of it
Your air conditioner runs from April through October here, seven months, with summer afternoons averaging 90°F. That is seven months of the compressor cycling on and off most days just to keep the house cool, with little break even outside those months.
St. Johns County has also logged 127 damaging wind events and 33 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 3 inches. Wind-driven debris can strike the outdoor unit or rock it loose from its pad. Hail that size can dent the thin fins on the condenser coil, and a bent-up coil has a harder time shedding heat, so the system runs longer to cool the same house.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 33 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 127 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $70 a year off cooling for a typical St. Johns County home.
Estimates for a typical St. Johns 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 get that license, and it keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license that covers a new install covers a repair call to your air conditioner.
For this job, that license is what stands behind the person working on your system, but the refrigerant lines are covered separately. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, which is a federal rule and applies no matter what state you're in.
Sources: Florida Legislature · Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most often the filter is clogged and choking off airflow, so check that first since it is the easiest thing to fix yourself. If the filter is clean, the problem could be low refrigerant from a leak, a failing compressor, or a frozen coil that needs time to thaw before it will cool again. Running a system low on refrigerant for long can damage the compressor, so it is worth having a contractor look at it soon rather than waiting through a St. Augustine summer.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Your AC makes water as it cools the air, and that water is supposed to drain outside through a condensate line. When that line clogs with algae or dirt, the water backs up and drips inside instead, usually near the indoor unit. A dirty filter can cause the same problem a different way, by freezing the coil, which then drips as it melts. Either way, the fix is not something to put off, since water damage adds up fast.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. If the display is blank, check the batteries first, then the breaker for the AC itself, since a tripped breaker is a common cause. If power is fine and it still will not start, the capacitor that gives the compressor its initial jolt may have failed, which happens more with age and with the heat load an AC carries here from April through October. A licensed contractor can test the capacitor and the rest of the electrical parts to find out for certain.