AC Repair in Burlington, NC
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Alamance County will get in touch.
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Five months of hard running takes its toll
Your air conditioner works from May through September here, with summer afternoons averaging 87°F. That is five straight months where the compressor is cycling on and off most days, trying to keep up with the heat.
Alamance County also sees its share of rough weather. Ten years of storm records show 105 damaging wind events and 12 hail events, with hail up to 2 inches recorded. Wind can bend or knock loose the fins on your outdoor unit, and hail that size can dent the cabinet or damage the coil inside it. If your system is cooling poorly or not at all after a storm rolls through, that outdoor unit is the first place to look.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 12 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 105 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $50 a year off cooling for a typical Alamance County home.
Estimates for a typical Alamance County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, North Carolina 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.
North Carolina requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors tests and licenses HVAC contractors in North Carolina. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job, so the same license covers this repair and the next one they do for someone else.
For an air conditioner repair, the technician also needs an EPA Section 608 certification before they can touch the refrigerant side of the system. That certification is federal, required in every state, and separate from the state license. On a repair like this one, the two together are what stand behind the person working on your system.
Sources: North Carolina General Assembly · North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Usually it means the system is short on refrigerant or the airflow across the indoor coil is blocked. A dirty filter or a frozen coil can both cut off airflow until the air coming out feels barely cool. Low refrigerant almost always means a leak somewhere in the line set or coil, not normal usage, since these systems are sealed and don't consume refrigerant over time. A technician with EPA Section 608 certification is required by federal law to handle the refrigerant side, so that part of the diagnosis has to go through a licensed contractor.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most often the condensate drain line is clogged. Your AC pulls a lot of moisture out of the air on a hot day, and that water is supposed to run out through a drain line to the outside. When the line clogs with algae or debris, the water backs up and drips inside instead, sometimes tripping a safety switch that shuts the system off. A frozen coil that then thaws can cause the same kind of leak, so the fix depends on which one is happening.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker before assuming the worst. A dead thermostat battery, a tripped breaker, or a blown fuse at the outdoor unit will all keep the system from starting and none of them mean the AC itself is broken. If power is reaching the unit and it still won't start, the capacitor or the contactor may have failed, and those are parts a licensed contractor needs to test and replace. With 105 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, a tripped breaker after a storm is worth checking first.