AC Repair in Lynn, MA
Air conditioners here run from July through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Essex County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two short months, then it has to work
Your air conditioner in Lynn only really earns its keep in July and August, when afternoons average 79°F. That short season means the unit sits idle most of the year, then gets asked to run hard as soon as the heat arrives.
Essex County has had 256 damaging wind events and 20 hail events over the past ten years, with hailstones up to 1.25 inches. Wind can rock or shift the outdoor unit, and hail that size can dent the fins on the condenser coil. Bent fins block airflow, and an outdoor unit that can't move air won't cool the house even if everything else inside is working fine.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 79°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 20 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 256 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would save little on running costs in Essex County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Essex 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, so check that first. A dirty filter forces the coil to run colder than it should, and ice can form on it, which cuts cooling even more. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common cause, and that one needs a contractor to find and fix. If the air coming out is just weak rather than warm, the problem is more likely the blower or the ducts than the cooling itself.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The drain line that carries condensation away from your indoor coil is probably clogged. That line grows algae and sludge over time, the same way a sink drain does, and once it backs up the water has nowhere to go but out. A frozen coil that thaws can also flood the drain pan faster than it can drain. Either way the fix is clearing or repairing that line, not the coil itself.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to cool and the batteries aren't dead, since a blank or unresponsive screen often has nothing to do with the AC itself. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker, since a tripped breaker will keep the whole system dark. With 256 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, a breaker tripped by a power surge is worth ruling out before assuming something inside the unit has failed.