AC Repair in Kenner, LA
Air conditioners here run from April through October. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Jefferson Parish will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of Kenner heat wears an AC down
Your air conditioner runs from April through October here, seven months, and on a 90°F afternoon it barely gets a rest between cycles. That long a season puts real hours on the compressor and the fan motor, the parts carrying the load every time the system kicks on. Worn that way, a compressor starts putting out warm air when the thermostat says it should be cool.
The condenser unit sits outside through all of it, and this area has logged 38 damaging wind events and 11 hail events over the past ten years, hail up to 2.75 inches. Wind debris and hail can bend the fins or dent the fan shroud, and you notice it as a unit running louder than it used to, or as ice forming on the coil where it shouldn't.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 11 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 38 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $80 a year off cooling for a typical Jefferson Parish home.
Estimates for a typical Jefferson 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 license is issued to the contractor, not to the job, so it does not get reissued or reinspected each time someone calls for a repair. It means the state tested this contractor at some point and keeps a record of them, and that record is what you're relying on when you let them into your house.
For an air conditioner repair, there's a second layer under that license. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your system, which most repairs involve, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That's federal, the same in every state, and it exists because refrigerant is the part of the job that can hurt someone if it's handled wrong. Louisiana's license tells you the state has vetted the contractor. The federal certification tells you the person touching the refrigerant line has been trained to do it safely.
Source: Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this comes down to a dirty filter, low refrigerant, or a frozen coil. A clogged filter chokes airflow across the coil until it ices over, and once that happens the air coming out of your vents turns warm even though the system is running. Low refrigerant from a leak causes the same freezing problem. Either way, a contractor needs to check the coil and the refrigerant charge, since anyone opening that side of the system has to hold EPA 608 certification to handle it.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Your AC makes water as it cools the air, and that water is supposed to drain outside through a condensate line. When water shows up inside instead, the line is usually clogged or the drain pan has rusted through. A frozen coil that then thaws can also send more water than the pan or line can handle. Homes here run their AC from April through October, so that condensate line sees a lot of use over the year and is worth having checked.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat batteries and the breaker before assuming the worst. If the breaker keeps tripping, that points to an electrical problem inside the unit and it should stay off until a contractor looks at it. A failed capacitor is another common reason the system will not start at all. Louisiana requires the contractor doing this repair to hold a state license, so check for that before letting anyone open the unit up.