AC Repair in Bowling Green, KY
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Warren County will get in touch.
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Five months of Bowling Green summer wears on your AC
Your air conditioner runs May through September here, and on afternoons that average 88°F it does not get much of a break. The condenser fan and compressor carry that load the whole time, and the parts that start the compressor take the hardest hit. A weak start capacitor leaves the outdoor unit humming without kicking on, and the house stops cooling on the afternoon you need it most.
Warren County also sees its share of hail and wind, 22 hail events and 98 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hailstones up to 1.75 inches. That kind of hail dents the thin aluminum fins on the condenser coil, and enough wind-driven debris does the same. Bent fins choke off airflow across the coil, and the unit works harder to move the same amount of heat.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 88°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 22 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 98 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 Warren County home.
Estimates for a typical Warren County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Kentucky 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.
Kentucky requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction issues that license, and it covers the contractor as a business, not the specific job at your house. So the license tells you this contractor is on record with the state, but it does not certify any one repair.
For an air conditioner, the part of the job with real risk is the refrigerant. Any technician who opens that side of the system, to check the charge or fix a leak, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That is a federal rule, separate from the Kentucky license, and it applies no matter which state the work happens in.
Sources: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission · Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time the filter is clogged and starving the system of airflow, so check that first. A dirty filter makes the coil freeze over, and once that happens you get weak air or none at all until the ice melts. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common cause, but only a licensed contractor with EPA 608 certification can legally check refrigerant levels or touch that side of the system. If the filter looks fine and you still get warm air, the compressor or a failed capacitor could be the problem, and that calls for a contractor to diagnose.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- This usually means the condensate drain line is clogged, so water backs up and finds its way out instead of draining outside. Algae and dirt build up in that line over a Bowling Green summer, especially with the system running for months at a stretch from May through September. It can also mean the coil has frozen and is now melting faster than the drain pan can handle, which often traces back to a dirty filter or low airflow. Either way, a contractor can clear the line or find what caused the freeze.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it has power, is set to cool, and the set temperature is actually below the room temperature. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will cut power to the whole outdoor unit. Storms move through this area often enough, with 98 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, that a power interruption from an outage is a real possibility too. If power and the thermostat both check out and the system still won't start, the capacitor or a safety switch may be at fault, and that needs a licensed contractor to confirm.