AC Repair in Dayton, OH
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Montgomery County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of hard running, then storms on top of it
Your AC only gets four months to do its job here, June through September, and it spends most of that time working against 84 degree afternoons. That kind of steady heat load keeps the compressor cycling on and on through the day, and it's usually the capacitor or the run components that give out first from all that strain. You'll notice it as air that isn't as cold as it should be, or a unit that clicks and hums but won't start.
Montgomery County has also seen 60 hail events and 188 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Hail that size can bend the fins on the outdoor coil or dent the cabinet, and high wind can rock the unit on its pad or throw debris into it. If your AC struggled right after a storm rolled through, that's likely why.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 60 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 188 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 Montgomery County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Montgomery County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Ohio 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.
In Ohio, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the counties.
In Montgomery County, whether a contractor needs a local license depends on the county's own rule, since Ohio leaves that decision to counties rather than setting one statewide. Ohio's definition of a home contractor calls for at least $250,000 in liability insurance, but that is a definition written into state law, not a license or a test anyone has to pass.
For a repair on your air conditioner, the protection that does apply everywhere is federal. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your system has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, no matter what county you're in. That covers the refrigerant work itself. Whether the contractor also needs a license from Montgomery County is a separate question, answered by the county, not the state.
Source: Ohio Legislative Service Commission
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter choking off airflow, so check that first. If the filter is clean, the coil behind it can freeze over when airflow is restricted, and a frozen coil will blow warm or no air until it thaws. Low refrigerant from a leak also causes this, but that takes a contractor to confirm and fix, since refrigerant should never need topping off in a properly sealed system.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Warm summer air brings a lot of moisture out of your house, and that water has to go somewhere. Normally it drains out through a condensate line, and a leak means that line is clogged or the drain pan underneath has rusted through. A clogged line is a simple fix, but if the pan is the problem, a contractor will need to look at it.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it has power and is actually set to cool, since a dead battery or a wrong setting will stop the whole system before it even starts. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker for the outdoor unit, since a tripped breaker will keep it from running. Beyond that, it likely needs a contractor to look at the electrical or the compressor itself.