AC Repair in Blanding, UT
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers San Juan County will get in touch.
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Three hard months, and hail on top of it
Blanding only asks a lot of your air conditioner for three months a year, June through August, but summer afternoons average 89°F and the unit has to run hard to keep up. Short seasons like this catch homeowners off guard, because a system that sat quiet since last summer doesn't announce a bad capacitor or a low charge until the first hot day forces it to work.
San Juan County has also logged 12 hail events and 16 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. That's enough to bend the fins on an outdoor coil or knock an unbalanced fan around, and once the coil is damaged the system loses its ability to shed heat, so it runs longer and cools less.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 89°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 12 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 16 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 San Juan County home.
Estimates for a typical San Juan County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Utah 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.
Utah requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license is held by the contractor, not issued job by job, and it's on file with the Division of Professional Licensing. In Utah, work under $7,000 doesn't need a licensed contractor, so a small repair can fall outside that rule depending on the price.
Whoever opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner, licensed or not, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That's federal, and it applies to this repair no matter what it costs.
Sources: Utah State Legislature · Utah Department of Commerce
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common reason is a dirty air filter cutting off airflow across the coil. When air can't move through it, the coil can ice up and stop cooling the air passing by. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common cause, and that takes a licensed contractor to find and fix since it means opening the refrigerant side of the system. If the outdoor unit isn't running at all while the indoor fan blows, the compressor or capacitor may have failed.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air and that water is supposed to run out through this line to the outside. Algae and dirt build up inside the line over time and block it, so the water backs up and drips inside instead. A dirty air filter can also cause this by making the coil freeze up, then thaw and overflow the drain pan when the system cycles off.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check your thermostat first. If the display is blank, the batteries may be dead or a breaker may have tripped. If the thermostat is working but the outdoor unit still won't start, the capacitor or contactor inside it may have failed. Summer afternoons here average 89°F, and a system that won't start on a day like that needs a contractor to look at it soon.