AC Repair in Hammond, IN
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lake County will get in touch.
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Three hard months, and the storms in between
Your AC only gets three months to prove itself here, June through August, and it runs hard through afternoons that average 82°F. That kind of steady load wears on the run capacitor and the contactor, the parts that keep the compressor kicking on and staying on. When one of them goes, the unit hums but the compressor won't start, or it starts and trips right back off.
Lake County has also logged 121 damaging wind events and 32 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2.75 inches. Wind can bend the thin aluminum fins on your outdoor coil or rock the unit on its pad, and hail that size dents the coil and the fan grille. Either one cuts down the airflow the coil needs, so the house takes longer to cool even though the system is running the whole time.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 82°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 32 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 121 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 Lake County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Lake 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.
Lake County sets its own rule for who can do HVAC work on homes, separate from anything the state requires. Some counties and cities run a licensing or permitting system for contractors, others leave it open, so what protection exists here depends on Lake County's own requirements rather than a state license or exam.
What does apply everywhere, including here, is federal. Repairing an air conditioner usually means opening the refrigerant side of the system, and any technician who does that has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That is not a state or county license. It is a federal requirement tied to handling refrigerant, and it applies the same in Lake County as it does anywhere else in the country.
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, so check that first since it is the easiest to fix. A refrigerant leak is another common cause, and that shows up as warm air along with ice forming on the indoor coil. If the outdoor unit is not running at all while the indoor fan blows, the compressor or the capacitor that starts it may have failed. A contractor can test the system and tell you which one you are dealing with.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your indoor unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. Algae and dirt build up in that line over time and block the water that the coil pulls out of the air, so it backs up and spills out instead of draining outside. A frozen coil that then thaws can cause the same thing, so if you saw ice on the coil before the leak, that is likely the cause. Either way, a contractor can clear the line or find what is freezing the coil.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it is set to cool, the temperature is below the room temperature, and it has power or fresh batteries. If the thermostat looks fine, check your electrical panel for a tripped breaker, since the outdoor unit and indoor unit each run on their own circuit. If the breaker keeps tripping when you reset it, or the thermostat is fine and the system still will not start, the problem is inside the unit and a contractor will need to diagnose it.