AC Repair in Naperville, IL
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers DuPage County will get in touch.
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Three months of heat, then storms the rest of the year
Naperville only asks for cooling from June through August, but the outdoor unit still sits outside all year. DuPage County has logged 58 hail events and 180 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail as large as 2.5 inches. Hail dents the fins on the outdoor coil, and bent fins slow the airflow your system needs to cool the house. Wind can drive debris into the unit or knock it out of level, which puts stress on the lines and the compressor inside.
So when summer afternoons climb to their 82°F average, the damage is already done. A dented coil or a stressed line does not show up until the system is asked to run hard, and that is exactly what those three months do.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 82°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 58 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 180 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 DuPage County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical DuPage 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.
Illinois has no state HVAC license, and no state exam or state record behind the trade. Whether a contractor needs a local license depends on the town, since that decision is left to cities and towns rather than set at the state level. In DuPage County, that means the answer changes depending on which town the house sits in.
For a repair like this, the piece that holds no matter where you live is federal. Opening the refrigerant side of your air conditioner, the coil and lines that carry refrigerant, requires the technician to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That applies in every state, regardless of what your town does or does not require.
Source: Illinois General Assembly
- 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 frozen the air coming out feels warm instead of cold. Low refrigerant from a leak causes the same thing, and that needs a contractor to find the leak and fix it, not just add refrigerant. If the filter looks clean and the coil isn't frozen, the problem is more likely electrical, and a contractor can trace it from there.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your AC usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. Your unit pulls a lot of moisture out of the air on a hot afternoon, and that water has to drain somewhere. When the line clogs with algae or debris, the water backs up and finds another way out, often through the drain pan or into the space around the unit. A frozen coil that's now thawing will cause the same puddle, so check whether the airflow to the unit has been blocked first.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to cool, the temperature is below the room's current temperature, and it has power or fresh batteries. If the thermostat looks right, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will keep the whole unit from starting. If the breaker is fine and it still won't start, the problem is likely in the unit itself, and a contractor will need to look at it directly.