AC Repair in Bloomington, IL
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers McLean County will get in touch.
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Four months of real heat, and storms in between
Your AC in Bloomington works hard from June through September, and on afternoons that average 84°F it runs long stretches just to keep the house comfortable. That kind of steady runtime wears on the compressor and the fan motor, the parts that carry the load hour after hour.
McLean County has also logged 47 hail events and 136 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Hail up to 2 inches can bend the fins on your outdoor coil or dent the cabinet, and high wind can knock the unit out of level or drive debris into it. If your air conditioner is suddenly running loud, blowing warm, or not coming on at all, one of those is usually why.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 47 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 136 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would save little on running costs in McLean County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical McLean County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Illinois 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.
In Illinois, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the cities and towns.
McLean County does not run its own HVAC licensing program, so whether a contractor needs a local license comes down to the specific city or town the house sits in. Some municipalities in Illinois require one, some don't, and Illinois itself keeps no state license or record of HVAC contractors at all. There is no statewide list to check against and no state exam behind the work being done.
For an air conditioner repair, the part that matters is the refrigerant. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of the system, which most AC repairs require, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That's a federal requirement and it applies the same way in McLean County as it does everywhere else in the country, regardless of what the local city or town does or doesn't require on top of it.
Source: Illinois General Assembly
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common reason is a dirty air filter choking off airflow across the coil. When that happens the coil can ice over, and once it's iced up you'll get weak air or no cold air until it thaws. Low refrigerant from a leak causes the same symptom, but that's not something you can check yourself. If the filter looks clean and you still have warm air, a contractor needs to check the refrigerant charge and the coil.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most of the time this is the condensate drain line clogged with algae or dirt, so the water that should run outside backs up and drips inside instead. A dirty filter can also cause this indirectly, by icing the coil, which then melts and overflows the drain pan. Shut the system off if you see water pooling, since running it longer can mean more water finds its way onto your floor or ceiling. Clearing the drain line is usually a quick fix for a contractor.
- 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's current reading, and if it uses batteries, try fresh ones. If the thermostat looks right, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down with no warning. Given how many wind events roll through Bloomington, a tripped breaker or a blown capacitor after a storm is a common cause, and either one needs a contractor to sort out.