AC Repair in Silver City, NM
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Grant County will get in touch.
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Three months of hard running in Silver City heat
Your air conditioner in Silver City only has June through August to work with, and it runs hard those three months to keep up with afternoons averaging 87°F. That kind of steady load adds up fast on a system that sits idle most of the year.
Grant County has also logged 46 damaging wind events and 16 hail events over the past ten years, with hailstones up to 2 inches. Wind can rattle loose the electrical connections in your outdoor unit, and hail that size can bend the fins on your condenser coil or dent the cabinet around it. If your air conditioner is putting out weak cooling or making a new noise, one of those two things, the summer heat load or storm damage to the coil, is usually why.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 16 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 cut about $30 a year off cooling for a typical Grant County home.
Estimates for a typical Grant County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, New Mexico 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.
New Mexico requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
New Mexico's Construction Industries Division tests and licenses HVAC contractors before they take on work like this. The license belongs to the contractor, not to the single job, so it's the person or company holding it who answers for the work done in your home.
Since fixing your air conditioner means opening the refrigerant side of the system, whoever does the work also needs EPA Section 608 certification, the same federal rule that applies everywhere in the country. In New Mexico, that certification sits alongside the state license, not in place of it.
Source: New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is low refrigerant from a leak somewhere in the line set or coil. A dirty air filter or a frozen evaporator coil can also cut off airflow enough that the air coming out feels weak or warm. Only a technician with EPA 608 certification can legally open the refrigerant side to check the charge and find a leak, so if the filter looks clean, this is a call for a contractor.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most of the time this means the condensate drain line is clogged and water is backing up instead of draining outside. It can also mean the evaporator coil has frozen and is now melting and dripping past the drain pan. A clogged line is usually a straightforward fix, but a frozen coil points to an airflow or refrigerant problem underneath it, worth having a contractor look at before it happens again.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it has power, is set to cool, and the temperature is actually below the room temperature. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker for the outdoor unit, since a tripped breaker will keep it from starting at all. If power is reaching the unit and it still won't start, the problem is likely inside the unit itself, and a licensed contractor will need to diagnose it.