AC Repair in Cape Girardeau, MO
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Cape Girardeau County will get in touch.
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Five months of Cape Girardeau summer heat wears on your AC
Your air conditioner works May through September here, with summer afternoons averaging 88°F. That is five straight months where the compressor runs long hours just to keep up, day after day.
Cape Girardeau County has also seen 120 damaging wind events and 23 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Hail that size can dent or crack the fins on your outdoor unit, and the coil behind them needs those fins open to move air. Once they're crushed flat, the unit has to work harder to pull heat out of your home, and you'll notice the air coming from your vents isn't as cold as it should be.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 88°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 23 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 120 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 Cape Girardeau County home.
Estimates for a typical Cape Girardeau County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Missouri 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.
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most often the filter is clogged enough that air can't move through the coil right. A dirty filter starves the system and the coil can ice over, so what comes out the vents feels warm or weak. Low refrigerant from a leak causes the same thing and that's a repair for a contractor, not something to top off yourself. With five months of cooling here, from May through September, a dirty filter shows up faster than it might somewhere milder.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The drain line is probably clogged. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air as it cools it, and that water is supposed to run out through a drain line to the outside. Algae and dirt build up in that line over a cooling season and block it, so the water backs up and drips inside instead. A frozen coil that's thawing out will do the same thing, so if you see ice on the coil, shut the system off and let it thaw before calling someone.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker. Check that the thermostat is set to cool and below the room temperature, and check the breaker for the outdoor unit hasn't tripped. If both of those look fine, the problem is likely electrical inside the unit itself, a bad capacitor or a tripped safety switch, and that needs a contractor to diagnose. After a storm with high wind, it's worth checking the breaker first since a power interruption can trip it even if the unit itself is fine.