AC Repair in Washington, PA
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Washington County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of heat, all at once
Washington County only asks your air conditioner to work June through August, but it works hard those three months. Summer afternoons average 82°F, and the unit runs long hours trying to keep up. That kind of steady demand wears on the compressor and the fan motor, the parts that run the whole time the system is cooling.
Hail and wind are part of the picture too. The area has seen 59 hail events and 263 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 3 inches. That kind of storm can bend the fins on your outdoor unit or knock it out of alignment, and you may not notice until the air coming from your vents isn't as cold as it should be.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 82°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 59 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 263 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 Washington County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Washington 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 and gives you a record to point to if something goes wrong. It does not mean anyone tested the contractor's work. Washington County can't layer on its own HVAC license on top of that, so the state registration is the only state-level record that applies here, wherever you are in Pennsylvania.
For the repair itself, the protection that matters is federal. Your air conditioner's refrigerant side can only be opened by a technician who holds EPA Section 608 certification, and that rule applies in every state regardless of what Pennsylvania does or doesn't license. That certification, not the state registration, is what tells you the person handling the refrigerant is qualified to do it.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this means the airflow across the coil is blocked or the refrigerant charge is low. A dirty filter is the first thing to check since it restricts the air moving over the coil and can cause it to ice up. If the coil is frozen, turn the system off and let it thaw before running it again. If the filter is clean and air still isn't cold, the system may be low on refrigerant, which points to a leak that a contractor needs to find and seal.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- This usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. Algae and dirt build up inside that line over a cooling season and block the path water takes to drain outside, so it backs up and spills out near the indoor unit instead. A frozen coil that then melts can cause the same thing, so check the filter too. Either way, a contractor can clear the line and check whether something upstream caused the clog.
- 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 room temperature, and check the breaker panel for a tripped switch, since a hard summer afternoon here near 82°F can pull enough current to trip one. If both look fine, the capacitor that starts the compressor may have failed, which is a common reason a unit gets power but won't start. A contractor can test the capacitor and the rest of the electrical side to find out which it is.