AC Repair in Portage, IN
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Porter County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three hard months of work, then hail and wind on top of it
Portage only asks for cooling three months a year, but June through August it runs hard, with afternoons averaging 82°F. That kind of steady heat load keeps the compressor working long hours, and the capacitor that helps start it takes the brunt of that strain. When one weakens, the unit hums but the compressor won't start, or it starts and trips off on its own.
Porter County has also logged 26 hail events and 101 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Hail that size can bend the thin aluminum fins on your outdoor coil, and wind can rock the unit hard enough to loosen its electrical connections. A coil with crushed fins can't shed heat the way it should, and you'll notice the air coming from your vents isn't as cold as it used to be.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 82°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 26 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 101 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 Porter County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Porter 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.
Porter County sets its own rule for who can do HVAC work on a house, and that rule does not come from the state. Indiana leaves it to the counties and cities, so whether a contractor needs a local license, and what that license checks, depends on Porter County's own office, not a state board or a state exam.
For a repair on your air conditioner, the part of the job that is regulated everywhere is the refrigerant. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your AC has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, no matter what county you're in. That's a federal certification, not a license, and it covers refrigerant handling specifically, not the rest of the repair.
Sources: Indiana Department of Workforce Development · State of Indiana
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time it's the filter, choked with enough dust that air can't move through it. A frozen coil will do the same thing, and that usually starts with the same dirty filter or low refrigerant. If the air coming out is warm instead of just weak, a contractor needs to check the refrigerant charge and the compressor.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The condensate drain line is probably clogged. Your air conditioner pulls moisture out of the air as it cools your home, and that water is supposed to run out through a drain line to the outside. Algae and dirt build up in that line over time and block it, so the water backs up and drips out near the indoor unit instead.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat, since dead batteries or a setting knocked off cool will stop the whole system cold. Check the breaker next, because a tripped one will leave the outdoor unit sitting dark and silent. If the breaker trips again after you reset it, stop and have a contractor look at it rather than resetting it again.