AC Repair in Eau Claire, WI
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Eau Claire County will get in touch.
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Three months of hard running, then long stretches of nothing
Your air conditioner in Eau Claire County only earns its keep from June through August. Summer afternoons average 79°F, so the unit runs hard for three months, then sits idle the rest of the year. A system that starts and stops with the seasons like this is more prone to trouble when it wakes up for the first hot week than one that runs year round and stays limber.
The county has also logged 23 hail events and 35 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Hail that size can dent or crack the thin aluminum fins on an outdoor condenser coil, and high winds can rock the unit on its pad or send debris into it. If your air conditioner is cooling poorly or making noise after a storm, the coil or the fan blades are worth a look.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 79°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 23 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 35 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 Eau Claire County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Eau Claire County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the Department of Safety and Professional Services. Nobody tests the contractor's trade knowledge to get on that list, and no city or county in Wisconsin can add a license requirement on top of it, so the state record is the same wherever you live.
For a repair like yours, the thing that actually covers the work is federal. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, and that rule applies in every state, Wisconsin included. That certification, not the state registration, is what says the person working on your system was tested on handling refrigerant.
Sources: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most often the filter is clogged and starving the system of airflow, so check that first. A dirty filter makes the coil freeze up, and once that happens you get weak air or none at all until the ice melts. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common cause, but that's not something to chase down yourself since it means opening the sealed system. If the filter is clean and you're still getting warm air, a contractor needs to check the charge and the coil.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. Algae and dirt build up in that line over a cooling season and block the water from draining where it should, so it backs up and finds another way out. A frozen coil that's thawing can also leave water pooling near the indoor unit. Either way, a contractor can clear the line or find out why the coil froze in the first place.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with your thermostat batteries and the breaker for the outdoor unit, since both are common and easy to rule out. If the breaker keeps tripping when you reset it, that points to an electrical problem in the unit itself and it's not safe to keep resetting it. Summer storms here bring damaging wind and hail, and either one can knock out power or damage the outdoor unit, so check for storm damage if a storm came through recently. If the basics check out and it still won't start, a contractor needs to look at it.