AC Repair in Jersey City, NJ
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Hudson County will get in touch.
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Four months of steady heat wears on your AC
Jersey City asks a lot of an air conditioner from June through September. Summer afternoons average 84°F, and that means the compressor is running hard for months at a stretch, not just on the odd hot day.
That steady demand is what wears out capacitors and stresses the compressor itself. You notice it as warm air coming from the vents, a unit that runs constantly but never quite cools the house, or a system that shuts off on its own on the hottest afternoons.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 35 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 Hudson County home.
Estimates for a typical Hudson County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, New Jersey 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 Jersey requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the state board and it covers the contractor, not the individual repair. Because Hudson County sits in New Jersey, no city or town license applies on top of it. The contractor working on your air conditioner should hold this one license, wherever in the state they are based.
The license tells you the state tested this contractor and keeps a record of them. It does not test the technician who actually opens the unit to work on the refrigerant. That technician needs EPA Section 608 certification, a federal requirement that applies in every state, and it is what stands between you and someone handling refrigerant without the training to do it safely.
Sources: New Jersey Legislature · New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this is a dirty air filter or a dirty coil choking off airflow. When air can't move across the coil the way it should, the coil gets too cold and ices over, and once that happens the air coming through the vents turns warm or stops being cold at all. It can also mean the refrigerant charge is low, which points to a leak somewhere in the line set or coil. A contractor holding EPA Section 608 certification has to be the one to check the refrigerant side, since that part of the system is federally regulated.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Your AC makes water as it cools the air, and that water is supposed to drain out through a condensate line. If that line is clogged, the water backs up and drips or pools near the indoor unit instead of draining away. A dirty air filter can also cause this indirectly, by icing the coil and then flooding the drain pan when the ice melts faster than the pan can handle. Either way, water where it shouldn't be is a drainage problem, not something to ignore since it can damage the floor or ceiling around the unit.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to cool and set below the room temperature, and that its batteries aren't dead. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker box, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down with no warning. If power and the thermostat both check out and it still won't start, the problem is inside the unit and needs a contractor to diagnose it.