AC Repair in Westerly, RI
Air conditioners here run from July through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Washington County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of real work, then months of sitting still
Your air conditioner in Westerly only earns its keep in July and August, when afternoons average 79°F. That is not a hard load compared to hotter places, but the unit spends most of the year shut down and idle, then gets asked to start up and run hard as soon as the heat arrives. Capacitors and contactors that sat unused all winter are the parts most likely to fail on that first real hot stretch.
Washington County has also seen its share of rough weather, with 111 damaging wind events and a dozen hail events over the past ten years, one hailstone as big as 1.5 inches. Wind that strong can knock branches or debris into an outdoor unit, and hail that size can bend the thin fins on the coil. If your air conditioner is blowing warm air or the outdoor unit sounds like it is straining, a bent coil or a failed part from a long winter off could be why.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 79°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 12 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 111 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 Washington County home.
Estimates for a typical Washington County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Rhode Island 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.
Rhode Island requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Rhode Island's Department of Labor and Training issues the license and keeps the record of who holds one. It covers the contractor, not the individual repair. The license tells you the person or company met the state's standard. It does not mean anyone checked off this specific job.
For an air conditioner repair, the riskiest part of the work is anything done to the refrigerant side of the system. That falls under a separate federal rule. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your AC has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, in every state, not just Rhode Island. So this job is covered two ways. The state license stands behind the contractor. The federal certification stands behind whoever handles the refrigerant.
Source: Rhode Island General Assembly
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common reason is low refrigerant from a leak somewhere in the line. A dirty air filter can also choke off airflow enough that the air coming out feels weak or warm, and a frozen evaporator coil will do the same until it thaws. Only a licensed technician with EPA 608 certification can check the refrigerant charge, since that means opening the sealed side of the system.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. Warm, humid air passing over the evaporator coil produces a steady drip of water, and that water has to drain somewhere. If the line backs up or the pan cracks, the water finds another way out, often pooling near the indoor unit.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker before assuming the worst. A dead thermostat battery or a tripped breaker will stop the whole system cold. If both check out, the problem is likely inside the unit itself, in the capacitor or the contactor, and that calls for a contractor to diagnose.