AC Repair in Cambridge, MA
Air conditioners here run from July through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Middlesex County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of real heat, then long stretches of storms
Cambridge only asks for cooling in July and August, with afternoons averaging 81°F. That short season means your air conditioner sits unused most of the year, then gets switched on and expected to run hard right away. A unit that sat idle can struggle to start, and a weak capacitor or a compressor that has lost its charge over the winter often shows up in the first hot week.
Middlesex County has logged 467 damaging wind events and 47 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2 inches. Wind drives debris into the outdoor unit and can bend the fan cage or knock the cabinet out of alignment. Hail that size can dent the fins on the outdoor coil, and once those fins are crushed the coil cannot shed heat the way it needs to. You notice it as a system that runs but never quite cools the house, or one that cycles on and off more than it used to.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 47 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 467 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $30 a year off cooling for a typical Middlesex County home.
Estimates for a typical Middlesex County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Massachusetts 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.
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most often the filter is clogged and starving the system of airflow, or the refrigerant level is low. A dirty filter makes the coil work harder until it can freeze up, and once that happens the air coming out turns warm. If the filter looks clean, the problem is more likely inside the system, and that calls for a contractor to check the refrigerant charge.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. As your AC pulls moisture out of the air, that water is supposed to run out through the drain line, and algae or dirt can block it over time. When it backs up, the water has nowhere to go but out of the unit. A frozen coil that is thawing can cause the same thing, so if the airflow has also seemed weak lately, mention that too.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first. Make sure it is set to cool and the temperature is actually below the room temperature, and if it runs on batteries, try fresh ones. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker for the outdoor unit, since a tripped breaker will keep the whole system from starting. With 467 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, a tripped breaker after a storm is worth ruling out before anything else.