AC Maintenance in Florence, KY
Air conditioners here run from June through September, so May is the time for a tune-up. Tell us about your system, and a licensed contractor who covers Boone County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of real work, then a long rest
Your air conditioner in Florence runs from June through September, with summer afternoons averaging 85°F. It sits idle most of the year, then gets asked to carry a full cooling load as soon as the heat sets in. That kind of restart is hard on the parts that get it going. A capacitor that has lost its charge or a contactor with worn contacts can keep the compressor from starting clean.
A tune-up checks those parts before the season asks anything of them, and clears the coil and filter so the system is not working harder than it needs to just to cool the air. Boone County has also seen 86 damaging wind events and 18 hail events over the past ten years, so a service visit is a chance to look over the outdoor unit for bent fins or storm debris before summer starts.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 85°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
Book your AC tune-up in May, before homes here start needing cooling in June.
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
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- Nov
- Dec
A tune-up checks the refrigerant charge, cleans the coils, tests the capacitor and tightens the electrical connections.
Kentucky requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction. It belongs to the contractor, not to any single visit. That license is what stands behind the person coming to work on your air conditioner.
Maintenance on a system like yours can mean opening the refrigerant side to check the charge. Any technician who does that must hold EPA Section 608 certification. That is a federal rule and it applies no matter which state you're in. So on a job like this, the contractor's state license and the technician's federal certification are both part of the picture.
Sources: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission · Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A technician cleans the condenser coil, checks the refrigerant charge, and tests the capacitor and contactor in the outdoor unit. Inside, they check the evaporator coil and the condensate drain, since a clogged drain is what causes water to back up into the house. They also check that the thermostat calls for cooling correctly and that the system is pulling the temperature down like it should. Anyone opening the refrigerant lines to check the charge has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, which is a federal rule.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year, in spring before the heat sets in. Florence only asks the system to run June through September, but that's still four months of afternoons averaging 85 degrees, and a coil that's dirty or a charge that's low going into that stretch will show up as higher bills and a house that doesn't cool right.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, mainly because it catches small problems before they turn into a system that quits during the four months it has to run. A dirty coil or a weak capacitor won't stop the AC from running right away, but it will make it work harder and cost more to run, and eventually one of those parts fails. Florence has also logged 86 damaging wind events and 18 hail events over the past ten years, so a yearly check is also the time a technician notices a bent fin or a ding on the condenser cabinet before it turns into a bigger repair.