AC Repair in Greenville, NC
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Pitt County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of heat, every year, on your AC
From May through September your air conditioner is the only thing standing between your house and a 88°F afternoon. It runs long hours, day after day, for five straight months. That kind of stretch wears on the parts that keep it running, the capacitor and the compressor especially, since they carry the load every time the system cycles on.
Pitt County has also seen 67 damaging wind events and 25 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.5 inches. Wind can knock the outdoor unit's fan out of balance or drive debris into the coil. Hail that size can dent the fins on the outside unit, and bent fins choke off the airflow the system needs to cool the house.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 88°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 25 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 67 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 Pitt County home.
Estimates for a typical Pitt 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 tests contractors before they get licensed and keeps a record of who holds one. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single repair, so the same license that qualifies someone to work on your air conditioner covers the other jobs they take on too.
For a repair like this, the part worth knowing about is separate from the license. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, no matter what state they work in. That's a federal requirement tied to handling refrigerant itself, not something North Carolina's board issues.
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?
- Most of the time the refrigerant is low or the airflow across the coil is blocked. A dirty filter or a coil caked with dust makes the air coming out feel weak or warm even when the system runs fine otherwise. A refrigerant leak causes the same warm-air complaint but needs a licensed contractor to fix, since only someone with EPA Section 608 certification can open that side of the system. Either way, running the system for days like this can freeze the coil and make the repair bigger.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The drain line is probably clogged. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air and that water is supposed to run out through a condensate line, and algae or dirt can block that line over a season of use. When it backs up, the water has nowhere to go but out of the unit or down through the ceiling if the air handler is in an attic. A frozen coil that then thaws will cause the same kind of puddle, so a contractor will check both.
- 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 stop the system cold and none of those need a contractor to check first. If those are fine, the capacitor or the contactor inside the outdoor unit may have failed, and that's a repair for a licensed technician. Summers here run May through September with afternoons averaging 88°F, so a system that won't start is worth getting looked at quickly.