AC Repair in San Jose, CA
Air conditioners here run from July through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Santa Clara County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of real heat, hard on a system that sits idle the rest of the year
Your air conditioner in Santa Clara County only earns its keep from July through September, but summer afternoons averaging 82°F ask a lot of it in that short stretch. A system that sits idle most of the year and then runs hard for three months is more likely to show a weak capacitor or a low refrigerant charge right when you need it most.
Wind is the bigger risk here than hail. The county has logged 257 damaging wind events over ten years against just 33 hail events, and even those hailstones topped out at 0.75 inches. Wind can rock an outdoor unit, loosen wire connections, or knock debris into the coil, and you notice it as warm air blowing, short cycling, or the unit not starting at all.
- 3 months
- July through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 82°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 33 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 257 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $30 a year off cooling for a typical Santa Clara County home.
Estimates for a typical Santa Clara 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're licensed and keeps a record of who holds one. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license that would cover a full installation covers a repair like this one.
On top of that state license, anyone who opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner to fix it has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That's a federal rule and it applies no matter which state you're in. For a repair job like this, the CSLB license tells you the contractor is on record with the state, and the 608 certification tells you they're allowed to handle the refrigerant itself.
Sources: California Legislative Counsel · Contractors State License Board
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common reason is a dirty air filter choking off airflow across the coil. When that happens the coil can ice up, and once it's frozen you'll get weak or warm air until it thaws. A dirty outdoor unit or a low refrigerant charge can cause the same thing. Check the filter first. If it's clean, a contractor can tell you whether the system has a leak or another problem.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your indoor unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air as it cools, and that water is supposed to run out through the drain line. Algae and dirt build up in that line over time and block it, so the water backs up and spills out instead. A frozen coil that's now thawing will also puddle water, so if the system was just running with weak airflow, that could be the cause instead.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it's set to cool and set below the room temperature, and check the batteries if it has a screen that looks dim or blank. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel for a tripped breaker, since AC units draw enough power that a breaker can trip on its own. San Jose sees a fair number of damaging wind events each year, and a power blip during one of those can trip a breaker without you noticing at the time. If the breaker is fine and the system still won't start, a contractor will need to check the unit itself.