AC Maintenance in Murrysville, PA
Air conditioners here run from June through August, so May is the time for a tune-up. Tell us about your system, and a licensed contractor who covers Westmoreland County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of hard running, then months of sitting idle
Your air conditioner in Murrysville only gets three months of real work, June through August, with summer afternoons averaging 81°F. Then it sits idle the rest of the year, and a system that starts up cold after a long stretch off is where a weak capacitor or a low refrigerant charge tends to show itself first.
Westmoreland County has also logged 441 damaging wind events and 59 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2 inches. That outdoor unit sits through all of it. A tune-up checks the coil fins and the fan for storm damage you would not see from the ground, before the next stretch of hot afternoons finds it.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 59 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 441 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Book your AC tune-up in May, before homes here start needing cooling in June.
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
A tune-up checks the refrigerant charge, cleans the coils, tests the capacitor and tightens the electrical connections.
Pennsylvania requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the Bureau of Consumer Protection. Nobody tests the contractor's trade knowledge to get it, and no state board is checking their work. Pennsylvania also blocks cities and towns from layering their own HVAC license on top, so this registration is the only state-level record that exists here, no matter where in the state you are.
For a maintenance visit on your air conditioner, what actually stands behind the work is federal. Anyone who opens the refrigerant side of your system, to check the charge or get to the coil, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, and that rule applies whether they are working in Westmoreland County or anywhere else in the country. That certification is a separate thing from the state registration, and it is the credential that actually says something about who is allowed to touch refrigerant.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A technician cleans the condenser coil, checks the refrigerant charge, and tests the capacitor and contactor in the outdoor unit. Inside, they check the evaporator coil and make sure the condensate drain is clear so water isn't backing up. They also check the thermostat calling for cool and look over the electrical connections, since a loose wire is one of the more common reasons a unit fails on a hot day. Your filter should already be part of your own routine, but a tech will check it too.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year, before the weather turns warm, is enough for most units. Here, cooling season runs June through August, so getting it looked at in spring gives a contractor time to fix anything found before you actually need the system. A yearly check also catches wear on the capacitor or contactor before it causes a breakdown on one of those 81-degree afternoons.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, because most of what fails on an air conditioner shows warning signs before it fails completely. A weak capacitor, a dirty coil, or a low refrigerant charge all show up during an inspection, and catching them early means the unit isn't struggling to cool your home all summer. It also matters here because this area sees frequent storms, including damaging wind, and a maintenance visit is a chance to check that the outdoor unit wasn't knocked out of alignment or hit by debris.