AC Repair in Vineyard Haven, MA
Air conditioners here run from July through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Dukes County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of real work, then months of standing still
Your air conditioner earns its keep in July and August, then sits idle the rest of the year. That kind of stop-and-start life is harder on it than steady daily use. Contacts and capacitors that sat untouched since last summer are the ones that fail on the first hot afternoon.
Vineyard Haven also gets its share of wind, with 46 damaging wind events recorded over the past ten years. A condenser unit sitting outside can take a hit from blown debris or a branch, which shows up as a bent fin, a knocked loose wire, or a fan that suddenly runs rough.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 77°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 1 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 46 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 Dukes County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Dukes 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 of the time the filter is clogged and starving the system of airflow, or the refrigerant level is low from a leak somewhere in the line. A dirty outdoor coil can cause the same thing, since it stops the unit from shedding heat properly. If the air coming out is warm or barely moving, a contractor needs to check the refrigerant charge and the coils rather than just the filter.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The drain line is probably clogged, which backs up the condensate and sends it somewhere it shouldn't go. Algae and dust build up in that line over time and block it. It can also mean the coil is icing over and then melting faster than the drain pan can handle, so if you see ice on the lines, turn the system off and let it thaw before anyone works on it.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting knocked out of cooling mode will stop the whole system cold. If the thermostat looks fine, it could be a tripped breaker or a blown fuse at the outdoor unit. Vineyard Haven gets its share of damaging wind, so if the outage followed a storm, have a contractor check the capacitor and wiring before assuming the worst.