AC Repair in Farmington, MO
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers St. Francois County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of hard heat, then storms the rest of the year
Farmington summers push air conditioners hard for four straight months, June through September, with afternoons averaging 86°F. The compressor runs long hours to hold the house at temperature, and that steady load wears on the capacitor and the contactor, the parts that start the compressor and keep it running. A weak capacitor shows up as a unit that hums but won't start, or one that shuts off on its own on the hottest afternoons.
St. Francois County has logged 19 hail events and 54 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 3 inches. That kind of weather bends the thin fins on the outdoor coil and can knock the unit out of alignment, so it makes more noise or cools less than it used to.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 19 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 54 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 St. Francois County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical St. Francois 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?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter choking off airflow across the coil. When that happens, the coil can ice up and stop cooling the air passing through it. A low refrigerant charge from a leak will cause the same thing, warm air from the vents instead of cold. With summer afternoons here averaging 86°F, a system running low on refrigerant will struggle for months, not just on the hottest days, so it is worth having a contractor check the charge and look for a leak rather than just topping it off.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your indoor unit almost always means the condensate drain line is clogged. Algae and dirt build up in that line over a cooling season and block the water that the coil pulls out of the air, so it backs up and drips out instead of draining away. A dirty air filter can cause the same problem indirectly, by icing up the coil, which then melts and overflows the drain pan. Clearing the line and changing the filter usually solves it, but if the drain pan itself has rusted through, it will need to be replaced.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check your thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting on heat instead of cool will stop the system before it even starts. If the thermostat looks right, a tripped breaker or a blown fuse at the outdoor unit is the next most likely cause. Farmington sees its share of damaging wind, 54 events over the past ten years, and a power surge from that kind of storm can trip a breaker or damage a capacitor. If the breaker resets and the system still won't run, a contractor will need to check the capacitor and the control board.