AC Repair in Los Angeles, CA
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Los Angeles County will get in touch.
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Four months of heat, every year, on your condenser
Your air conditioner works June through September here, and on the afternoons that hit 87°F it runs long stretches just to hold the house steady. That kind of stretch is hard on the condenser fan motor and the compressor, the two parts doing the actual work of moving heat out of the house. When one of them starts to fail, you feel it as a system that runs longer than it used to, or air coming out of the vents that isn't as cold as it should be.
Los Angeles County has also seen 112 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and wind carries debris into the outdoor unit. Leaves and grit packed against the condenser coil block airflow, and a blocked coil makes the whole system work harder to do the same job.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 9 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 112 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $70 a year off cooling for a typical Los Angeles County home.
Estimates for a typical Los Angeles County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, California 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.
California requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Contractors State License Board tests contractors before they get that license, and it keeps a record of who holds one and what has been filed against them. The license belongs to the contractor, not to this one repair, so it covers whoever is licensed to do the work rather than being issued job by job.
An air conditioner repair usually means opening the refrigerant line, and federal law requires whoever does that to hold EPA Section 608 certification, in California and every other state. That certification is separate from the state license. The license says California has tested this contractor and keeps them on record. The certification says the person handling the refrigerant is trained to do it without releasing it into the air.
Sources: California Legislative Counsel · Contractors State License Board
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most often the filter is clogged enough to choke off airflow, or the refrigerant level is low from a leak. A dirty filter makes the coil ice up, and once that happens the air coming out turns warm even though the system is running. Low refrigerant needs a licensed contractor, since it means finding and sealing the leak before adding more. Check the filter first. If it is clean and you still get warm air, the problem is inside the system.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water on the floor near your air handler usually means the drain line is 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 out wherever it can. A contractor can clear the line, and some systems have a shutoff switch that will keep the unit from running once the pan fills, which protects the house but leaves you without cooling until it is fixed.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker. If the thermostat screen is blank, check its batteries first. If the thermostat looks fine, go to your electrical panel and check whether the AC breaker has tripped, since a tripped breaker will stop the whole system cold. Los Angeles has had a fair number of high wind events over the past decade, and a power blip during one of those can trip a breaker even when nothing else is wrong. If the breaker is fine and the thermostat is calling for cooling but the unit still won't run, that points to something inside the system, and a licensed contractor will need to look at it.