AC Repair in Fayetteville, AR
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Washington County will get in touch.
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It takes about a minute.
Four months of hard running, every year
Your air conditioner works June through September here, with summer afternoons averaging 87°F. That is four straight months of long run times, and the compressor and the fan motor are what carry that load. A system that runs that hard for that long wears faster than one that only kicks on now and then.
Washington County also gets hail and wind. Ten years of records show 123 hail events and 99 damaging wind events, with hail up to 5 inches recorded. Hail dents the condenser fins outside and bends them shut, which chokes off airflow the unit needs to cool the refrigerant. When that happens you will notice the air coming from your vents is not as cold, or the unit runs longer than it used to just to keep the house comfortable.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 123 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 99 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $40 a year off cooling for a typical Washington County home.
Estimates for a typical Washington County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Arkansas 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.
Arkansas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state license is tied to the contractor, not to this one repair, so it follows them from job to job rather than getting issued fresh each time. Because Arkansas holds this licensing power at the state level, no county or city in Washington County can layer on its own separate license requirement. One license, good anywhere in the state.
For a repair like this, the license is what stands behind the person in your home. If the job involves opening the refrigerant lines, which most air conditioner repairs do, the technician also needs EPA Section 608 certification, a federal requirement that applies to this kind of work in every state. That certification covers the handling of refrigerant specifically. The state license is what covers the rest of the job.
Source: Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time it's a dirty filter or low refrigerant. A clogged filter chokes off airflow across the coil until it can freeze, and once that happens the air coming out feels warm. Low refrigerant means the system has a leak somewhere and needs a licensed contractor to find it and repair it, since Arkansas requires a license for that kind of work. Either way, running it too long in that state can damage the compressor, so it's worth shutting it off until someone looks at it.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- It's likely a clogged condensate drain line. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air all summer, and that water is supposed to run out through a drain line to the outside. When the line clogs with dirt or algae, the water backs up and drips inside your house instead. A frozen coil that's now thawing can cause the same thing, so either way it's worth having a contractor check both.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check your thermostat first, then your breaker panel. A dead thermostat battery or a setting that got bumped will stop the system cold. If the thermostat looks fine, a tripped breaker is the next most common cause, especially after a storm. Fayetteville sees a fair number of damaging wind events each year, and a power surge or blown fuse from one of those can be enough to keep the unit from starting even after the power's back on.