AC Repair in Bloomington, IN
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Monroe County will get in touch.
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Four months of hard running in Bloomington heat
Your air conditioner in Bloomington works hard for a short stretch. June through September, with afternoons averaging 84°F, the system runs long hours to keep up, then sits idle the rest of the year. That stop and start pattern is hard on the capacitor and the contactor, the parts that get the compressor going each time it cycles on.
Monroe County has also seen its share of hail and wind, 32 hail events and 44 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hailstones as large as 2.75 inches. That kind of hail can bend the thin fins on your outdoor unit's coil, and high wind can pull debris into the cabinet. Either one restricts airflow across the coil, and you notice it as weaker cooling or a system that runs constantly without bringing the house down to temperature.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 32 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 44 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 Monroe County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Monroe County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Indiana 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.
In Indiana, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the counties and cities.
Monroe County sets its own rule for who can do HVAC work on a house, so whether a contractor needs a local license comes down to the county or city rather than the state. Indiana keeps no state list of licensed HVAC contractors, so there is no state credential to check. Whatever applies here comes from Monroe County itself, not from Indianapolis.
For a repair on your air conditioner, the protection that holds everywhere is federal. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your system, to recover it, add to it, or replace a leaking part, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That certification belongs to the person doing the work, not to the state or the county, and it applies to this repair no matter where in the country the house sits.
Sources: Indiana Department of Workforce Development · State of Indiana
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter choking off airflow across the coil, which can end up frosting over and blowing warm air until it thaws. A low refrigerant charge from a slow leak will do the same thing. If the filter looks clean and the vents are open, the compressor outside may not be running at all, and a contractor will need to check the refrigerant level and the electrical components to find out why.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Warm, humid air runs across the evaporator coil all summer, and the moisture it pulls out has to drain somewhere. That water normally runs down a drain line and out through a condensate pump or drain. When the line clogs with algae or the pan cracks, the water backs up and shows up inside the house instead. A frozen coil that then thaws fast can also flood the pan faster than the drain can keep up.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to cool and below the room temperature, and that its batteries aren't dead. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker for the outdoor unit and the indoor air handler, since a tripped breaker on either one will keep the system from starting. Bloomington has had 44 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and outdoor units can take a hit that trips a breaker or damages a wire, so if the breaker keeps tripping, a contractor should check the unit before you keep resetting it.