AC Repair in Mansfield, OH
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Richland County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of hard running, then storm damage
Your AC gets three months a year to do its job, June through August. Summer afternoons here average 81°F, and the compressor runs long hours to keep up. Little rest between cycles wears on it, and the capacitor that helps start it wears right along with it.
Richland County has also logged 86 damaging wind events and 18 hail storms over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.5 inches. Wind can bend the fins on your outdoor unit or knock it off level. Hail dents the coil enough to choke the airflow it needs. Either way you notice the same thing. The house does not cool down like it used to, or the unit runs and runs without much to show for it.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 18 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 86 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 Richland County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Richland 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.
Richland County sets its own rule for whether a contractor working on your air conditioner needs to be licensed there. Ohio itself does not test or license HVAC contractors for home work, so there is no state record to check. The state does define what counts as a home contractor, and that definition includes carrying at least $250,000 in liability insurance, but that is a description, not a credential anyone earns.
What actually covers this repair is federal. Your air conditioner runs on refrigerant, and anyone who opens that side of the system, gauges attached, refrigerant recovered or added, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That rule applies in every state and does not depend on Richland County or on Ohio having a license program of its own.
Source: Ohio Legislative Service Commission
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this means the system is low on refrigerant or the airflow across the indoor coil is blocked. A dirty air filter starves the coil of air and it ices over, so warm air is all that comes through the vents until it thaws. It can also mean the outdoor unit isn't running while the indoor blower still is, which points to a compressor or capacitor problem. A contractor can check the refrigerant charge and the coil to find out which one it is.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your AC usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. Algae and dirt build up in that line over a cooling season and back the water up until it overflows the drain pan instead of running outside. A frozen coil that then melts can cause the same kind of leak, more water than the pan is built to hold. Either way the fix is for a contractor to clear the line or find why the coil froze in the first place.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to cool and a few degrees below the room temperature, and that its batteries aren't dead. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker for the outdoor unit, since a tripped breaker will keep the whole system from starting. Mansfield sees its share of damaging wind, and a storm can trip a breaker without you noticing. If the breaker is fine and the system still won't start, a contractor will need to look at the capacitor or the control board.