AC Repair in Economy, PA
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Beaver County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of real work, then a hit of hail and wind
Economy only asks its air conditioner to run June through August, but those afternoons average 82°F and the unit has to keep up with no break in between. That kind of steady demand wears on the run capacitor and the contactor, the parts that carry the load every time the compressor kicks on. When one of those goes, the outdoor unit hums but won't start, or it shuts off on its own partway through the afternoon.
The outdoor unit also sits outside for whatever the weather brings. Beaver County has seen 27 hail events and 190 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.25 inches. Hail that size can dent the thin aluminum fins on the condenser coil, and wind can pull branches or debris into the fan. Either one shows up as an outdoor unit that runs but doesn't cool like it used to.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 82°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 27 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 190 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 Beaver County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Beaver 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 Bureau of Consumer Protection. Nobody tested the contractor's HVAC knowledge to get that number, and the state does not license the trade itself. Beaver County can't add its own HVAC license on top of this, since Pennsylvania doesn't let cities and towns do that. So the business record is the same wherever you are in the state.
Since fixing your air conditioner means working on the refrigerant side, the contractor doing the work needs EPA Section 608 certification, the same as anyone doing that job anywhere in the country. That certification, not the state registration, is what says someone was actually tested on handling refrigerant safely.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most often the filter is clogged and starving the system of airflow, or the refrigerant level is low from a leak. A dirty filter makes the evaporator coil freeze over, and once that happens the air coming through your vents turns warm even though the unit is running. Check the filter first since that's the one thing you can rule out yourself. If it's clean and you're still getting warm air, the coil may be iced up or the system may be low on refrigerant, and either one needs a contractor to look at it.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The condensate drain line is probably clogged. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air as it cools, and that water is supposed to run out through a drain line to the outside. Algae and dirt build up in that line over time and block it, so the water backs up and drips inside instead. A frozen evaporator coil that's now thawing can cause the same thing, so if you noticed weak airflow before the leak started, that's likely what happened.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker before assuming the worst. Check that the thermostat is set to cool and below the current room temperature, and check your electrical panel for a tripped breaker, since summer afternoons here running near 82°F push the system hard and can trip one. If the breaker holds and the thermostat looks right, the problem is likely inside the unit itself, in the capacitor or the contactor, and that's a job for a contractor to test and replace.