AC Repair in Milwaukee, WI
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Milwaukee County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of hard running, then storms
Milwaukee County doesn't ask much of an air conditioner most of the year, but June through August it runs hard. Summer afternoons average 79°F, and a unit that sits idle for months has to work as soon as that heat shows up. Weak capacitors and tired contactors tend to fail right in that stretch, usually on the first real hot day, because that's when the system finally gets pushed.
The area has also logged 70 hail events and 71 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 3 inches. That kind of storm bends the fins on an outdoor coil and can knock an unbalanced fan or blade loose. After a bad storm, it's worth checking whether the outdoor unit is still blowing air the way it did before.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 79°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 70 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 71 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 Milwaukee County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Milwaukee 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 state. Nobody tested the contractor's work to get on that list, and no exam stands behind the name. Counties and cities in Wisconsin cannot add their own HVAC license on top of it, so this registration is the only state record that exists here.
For a repair on your air conditioner, the protection that matters comes from somewhere else. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your system, which a repair like this usually requires, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That's a federal rule that applies in every state, and it's the credential that says someone was actually tested on handling refrigerant safely.
Sources: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time it's a dirty filter choking off airflow, or the refrigerant is low from a leak somewhere in the line. A dirty filter is worth checking first since you can do that yourself in a minute. If the filter looks fine and the air is still warm, a contractor needs to check refrigerant levels and look for a leak, since low refrigerant won't fix itself by adding more.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The drain line that carries condensation away is probably clogged. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air as it cools, and that water normally runs out through a drain line to the outside. When that line clogs with algae or dirt, the water backs up and drips inside instead. A frozen coil that's thawing out can also cause it, so it's worth checking if the air was blowing weak or warm before the leak started.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped to off or heat will stop the AC before it even tries to start. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will cut power to the whole system. If the breaker keeps tripping when you reset it, that points to an electrical problem inside the unit and a contractor needs to look at it.