AC Repair in Little Rock, AR
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Pulaski County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Little Rock heat, and hail that gets in the way
Your air conditioner runs from May through September here, with afternoons averaging 91°F. That is five straight months of the compressor cycling on and on, most days, to keep up. That kind of run time wears on the capacitor and the fan motor, and when one of them gives out, the unit either won't start or runs but stops cooling.
Pulaski County has also seen 97 hail events and 178 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2.75 inches. Hail that size dents the fins on the outdoor coil and can bend the fan cage, and once the fins are crushed flat, the coil can't shed heat the way it should. If your air is blowing but not cold, or the outside unit looks banged up after a storm, that is often why.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 97 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 178 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $50 a year off cooling for a typical Pulaski County home.
Estimates for a typical Pulaski 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 licenses HVAC contractors, and that license is what backs the person working on your air conditioner. It covers the contractor, not each job, so the same license applies to any work that contractor does anywhere in the state. Counties and cities in Arkansas cannot require their own HVAC license on top of it. That includes Pulaski County, so the state license is the whole answer here, not part of one that depends on your city or address.
If the repair means opening the refrigerant side of the system, the technician doing that part needs EPA Section 608 certification. That is a federal rule and it applies in every state, not something Arkansas adds on its own. It covers a specific piece of the job, handling refrigerant without releasing it, separate from the license that covers the contractor as a business. Arkansas's license is the credential behind who is doing the work. The federal certification is the one behind how the refrigerant itself gets handled.
Source: Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time the outdoor unit isn't running even though the indoor fan is. Check first that the outdoor fan and compressor are actually on when the thermostat calls for cooling. If they're not, that points to a capacitor or electrical problem. If the outdoor unit is running but the air still isn't cold, the coil may be frozen over or low refrigerant may be behind it, and either one needs a licensed contractor to check.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your indoor unit usually means the drain line is clogged. Condensate normally drips off the coil and runs out through that line, and when it backs up the water has to go somewhere else, often onto your floor or ceiling. A frozen coil that's thawing out can cause the same thing. A contractor can clear the line or find what's actually blocking it.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it's set to cool and set below the room temperature, and check the batteries if it has a screen that's dim or blank. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will keep the whole system from starting. If the breaker keeps tripping after you reset it, stop and call a licensed contractor rather than resetting it again.