AC Repair in St. Louis, MO
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers St. Louis will get in touch.
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Five months of St. Louis heat wears on your AC
From May through September your air conditioner is working most days, and on the afternoons that hit 87°F it runs long stretches to keep up. That kind of steady run time wears on the compressor and the capacitor that gets it started. When the capacitor weakens, the unit hums but the compressor won't kick on, and the air coming out stays warm.
St. Louis has also seen 16 hail events and 28 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Hail up to 2 inches across can bend the thin fins on the outdoor coil, and wind can knock the unit out of level or drive debris into it. If your air conditioner is short on airflow or making noise it didn't used to make, that outdoor unit is worth a look.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 16 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 28 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. Louis, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical St. Louis 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, so start there before anything else. A clogged filter starves the coil of air and it can freeze over, and once that happens you get warm air or none at all until the ice melts. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common reason, and that one needs a licensed contractor since it means opening the system. If the filter looks clean and the vents still put out warm air, get someone out to check the refrigerant charge and the coil.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most of the time this means the condensate drain line is clogged and water is backing up instead of draining outside. Algae and dust build up in that line over a cooling season and block it. It can also mean the coil has frozen and is now thawing, which happens when airflow is restricted or refrigerant is low. Either way the fix is different depending on the cause, so it is worth having a contractor look at both the drain line and the coil.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped to off will stop the system before it ever starts. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker, since AC units trip breakers when something inside is straining, like a failing capacitor or a motor pulling too much current. A tripped breaker that trips again right after you reset it means there is a real electrical fault, and that calls for a contractor rather than another reset.