AC Repair in East Stroudsburg, PA
Air conditioners here run from July through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Monroe County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of real heat, then long stretches of quiet
Your air conditioner in East Stroudsburg only earns its keep in July and August, when afternoons average 79°F. That short, hard push is different from running steady all season. The system sits idle much of the year, then gets asked to work right when it's needed most, and a weak capacitor or a low charge that would have shown itself gradually somewhere hotter instead shows up as a unit that won't start or won't cool on the first real hot day.
Monroe County has also logged 174 damaging wind events and a few hail storms over the past ten years, including hailstones up to 1.5 inches. Wind throws branches and debris into the outdoor unit and can knock the fan blades out of true. Hail that size can dent the coil fins or the top grille. Either one cuts down the airflow the condenser needs, and you notice it as a system that runs longer than it used to, or blows air that isn't as cold as it should be.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 79°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 4 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 save little on running costs in Monroe County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Monroe County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Pennsylvania 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.
Pennsylvania requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the state. It does not mean anyone tested the contractor's work or checked their skill on a system like yours. Pennsylvania law also keeps cities and towns from requiring their own HVAC license, so this registration is what exists at the state level.
For a repair like this, what actually stands behind the work is federal. Your air conditioner runs on refrigerant, and anyone who opens that side of the system, to check the charge or fix a leak, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That rule holds in every state, Pennsylvania included, no matter what the state registration does or doesn't cover.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time the filter is clogged and starving the system of airflow, or the refrigerant charge is low from a slow leak in the coil or lines. A dirty outdoor coil can do the same thing, since it stops the unit from shedding heat properly. If the air coming out is warm rather than just weak, a contractor will need to check the refrigerant level and look for where it is escaping.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Usually the drain line is clogged with algae or debris and the water is backing up instead of draining outside. It can also mean the evaporator coil has frozen and is now thawing and dripping. A frozen coil often points to low airflow from a dirty filter or a refrigerant problem, so it is worth having someone check both the drain and the coil.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat batteries and the breaker before anything else, since both are easy to miss and both are common causes. If those check out, the capacitor that starts the compressor may have failed, which is a common wear part on any AC. Given how many wind storms this area sees, it is also worth checking that nothing near the outdoor unit tripped a safety switch or knocked loose a wire.