AC Maintenance in Deming, NM
Air conditioners here run from May through September, so April is the time for a tune-up. Tell us about your system, and a licensed contractor who covers Luna County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of 94 degree afternoons ask a lot of one system
Your air conditioner in Deming works hard for five months straight, May through September, with afternoons averaging 94°F. That is one long stretch where the compressor and fan run for hours at a time with barely a break. A unit that runs that steadily needs its coil clean and its refrigerant charge right, because anything less makes it run longer to hit the same temperature.
Luna County has also seen 18 damaging wind events and 8 hail storms over the past ten years, one leaving a hailstone 1.75 inches across. Wind can rattle loose a wire or knock debris into the outdoor unit. Hail that size can bend the fins on the coil. A tune-up is when a contractor checks the coil for that kind of damage and makes sure everything outside is still tight before the next long summer starts.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 94°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 8 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 18 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Book your AC tune-up in April, before homes here start needing cooling in May.
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
A tune-up checks the refrigerant charge, cleans the coils, tests the capacitor and tightens the electrical connections.
New Mexico requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
New Mexico tests contractors before they can hold this license, and the Construction Industries Division keeps the record of who passed. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single visit, so it covers the business doing the work rather than this particular maintenance call.
For a maintenance visit on your air conditioner, that state license is what stands behind the person in your house. If the work involves opening the refrigerant side of the system, the technician also needs to hold EPA Section 608 certification, which is a federal rule that applies no matter what state you are in.
Source: New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A technician cleans the condenser coil, checks the refrigerant charge, and tests the capacitor and contactor in the outdoor unit. Indoors, they check the evaporator coil, inspect the blower, and confirm the thermostat is calling for cooling correctly. They also check the condensate drain, since a clogged drain line is one of the more common reasons a system stops cooling in summer. Anyone opening the refrigerant lines to check the charge has to hold EPA 608 certification, which is a federal requirement everywhere.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year, before the weather turns hot, is enough for most systems. Homes here run the air conditioner from May through September, so getting it checked in spring gives a technician time to catch a weak capacitor or low refrigerant charge before summer afternoons hit 94°F. A system that has to work through five months of heat every year depends on that yearly check more than one that runs occasionally.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, especially here. A dirty coil or weak capacitor makes the system work harder to hit the same temperature, and that strain adds up over five months of cooling season with summer highs averaging 94°F. Maintenance also catches small problems, like a failing capacitor, before they cause the system to quit outright on a hot afternoon. It will not prevent every breakdown, but it lowers the odds of one at the worst time.