AC Repair in Winston-Salem, NC
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Forsyth County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of load, most of it in the afternoon heat
Your air conditioner works May through September here, and the afternoons it works hardest average 86°F. That kind of stretch means long run times day after day, not short bursts. The compressor and the fan motor are the parts carrying that load, and they show wear as running time adds up.
Forsyth County has also seen 174 damaging wind events and 20 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Wind can knock the outdoor unit's cabinet loose or bend the fan around it, and hail that size can dent the coil fins on the condenser. When that happens, you notice the air isn't as cold as it should be, or the outdoor unit is making a new noise it didn't make before.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 20 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 174 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $40 a year off cooling for a typical Forsyth County home.
Estimates for a typical Forsyth 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 license comes from the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors, and it covers the contractor rather than the specific job. It is the thing to look for before anyone touches your unit.
For this repair, the technician also needs EPA Section 608 certification before opening the refrigerant side of your air conditioner. That certification comes from the federal government, not the state, and it applies the same way in every state in the country.
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 often the filter is clogged and starving the system of airflow, or the refrigerant is low from a leak somewhere in the line. A dirty outdoor coil can cause the same thing, since the unit needs to shed heat outside to cool air inside. If the air coming out is warm or barely moving, a contractor who holds EPA 608 certification will need to check the refrigerant charge, since that part of the job means opening the sealed side of the system.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The drain line that carries condensation away is probably clogged. Algae and dirt build up in that line over a cooling season that runs May through September here, and once it backs up the water has nowhere to go but out. A frozen coil that then thaws can cause the same puddle, so the fix depends on which one it is.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped off cool will stop the system before it ever starts. If the thermostat looks right, the next place to look is the breaker, since a tripped breaker cuts power to the whole unit. Beyond that it could be a failed capacitor or a safety switch that's shutting the system down on purpose, and that calls for a contractor to test it.