AC Repair in Baton Rouge, LA
Air conditioners here run from April through October. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers East Baton Rouge Parish will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of Louisiana heat wears an AC down
Your air conditioner runs from April through October here, seven months of the year. On summer afternoons that average 91°F, it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch trying to keep up. That kind of run time wears on the compressor and the capacitor that helps start it. When the capacitor weakens, the unit can hum and struggle to start, or the compressor can shut down on high heat before the house ever cools.
East Baton Rouge Parish has also seen 100 damaging wind events and 27 hail events over the past ten years, with hail as large as 3.75 inches. Wind can knock the outdoor unit's fan out of balance or bend the cabinet, and hail that size can dent the fins on the outdoor coil. Once those fins are crushed, the coil can't move heat the way it should, and the system loses cooling power even though it still runs.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 27 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 100 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $60 a year off cooling for a typical East Baton Rouge Parish home.
Estimates for a typical East Baton Rouge Parish home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Louisiana 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.
Louisiana requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state tested this contractor and keeps a record of them with the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so it does not expire when this repair is finished and it does not get reissued for the next one.
For the repair itself, the part that matters most is the refrigerant. Any technician who opens that side of your air conditioner has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, which is a federal rule and applies no matter which state the work is done in. In Louisiana, that certification sits alongside the state license rather than in place of it.
Source: Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter choking off airflow across the coil. When that happens the coil can ice up, and once it's iced over the air coming through the vents turns warm or stops moving much at all. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common cause, and that takes a licensed technician to find and fix since it means opening the refrigerant side of the system. A failing compressor will also leave you with air movement but no cooling, and running the system afternoon after afternoon at 91 degrees puts a lot of strain on that part.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most of the time this is a clogged condensate drain line. Algae and dirt build up in that line over a cooling season that runs April through October here, and once it's blocked the water backs up and drips out near the indoor unit instead of draining outside. A dirty filter can also cause this indirectly by icing the coil, and the water shows up when that ice melts. Either way, a contractor can clear the line or find the actual source.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped off cool will stop the system before it ever starts. If the thermostat looks right, a tripped breaker is the next thing to check. Beyond that it could be a failed capacitor or contactor, parts that wear out from repeated startups over years of summers, and those need a licensed contractor to test and replace.