AC Repair in Columbia, MD
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Howard County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of hard running, every summer
Columbia's cooling season is short but the load is steady. Four months a year, June through September, with afternoons averaging 85°F, your air conditioner runs long hours to keep up. That steady run time is what wears out a compressor and a capacitor before their time.
Howard County also sees its share of hail and wind, 14 hail events and 177 damaging wind events over the last ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. A condenser sits outside to take that weather directly. Bent fins slow airflow across the coil, and a cracked fan blade or a hail-dented cabinet can throw the unit off balance. If your air conditioner is putting out warm air or making noise it didn't before, either kind of wear could be why.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 85°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 14 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 177 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $40 a year off cooling for a typical Howard County home.
Estimates for a typical Howard County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Maryland 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.
Maryland requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Maryland's board licenses the contractor, not the job. The license that lets a contractor take on this repair is the same one that covers every other job they take on.
For this repair, that license covers who is allowed to run the business and do the work. Opening up the refrigerant side of your air conditioner falls under a separate rule that applies in every state. The technician doing that part of the job has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, a federal credential tied to the person, not the business.
Sources: Maryland General Assembly · Maryland Department of Labor
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter cutting off airflow across the coil, or the coil itself frozen over from that lack of airflow. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common cause, and that only shows up as warm air once the charge has dropped enough. A technician needs EPA 608 certification just to open the refrigerant side and check it. If the filter looks clean and the vents are open, the problem is inside the system and worth having looked at before you run it more.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your indoor unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. Algae and dirt build up in that line over a cooling season and block the path the water normally takes outside. A frozen coil that then thaws can also send more water than the drain pan is built to handle. Either way it's worth having a contractor clear the line or check the coil before the water damages the area around the unit.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to cool and the temperature is below the room temperature, and replace the batteries if it has a blank screen. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker for the outdoor unit, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down. With 177 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, a tripped breaker after a storm is worth checking before anything else. If the breaker is fine and the system still won't start, the problem is likely in the unit itself and needs a contractor to diagnose it.