AC Repair in Ottawa, IL
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers LaSalle County will get in touch.
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Three months of hard running, then storms on top of it
Your air conditioner in LaSalle County has a short season to do its job. June through August, with afternoons averaging 83°F, it runs hard for three months and then sits idle the rest of the year. That start-stop pattern, a long break followed by a hard push, is what wears out a capacitor or a contactor before its time. You notice it as a unit that hums but won't start, or one that kicks off on the hottest part of the afternoon.
This area has also seen 124 damaging wind events and 39 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 3.75 inches. That kind of storm bends the thin aluminum fins on your outdoor unit's coil and can knock the unit out of alignment. Bent fins block airflow, and a coil that can't breathe makes the whole system work harder to cool the house.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 83°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 39 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 124 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 LaSalle County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical LaSalle 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.
That means whether a contractor needs a local license depends on which city or town the house sits in. Some places in Illinois set their own rules for HVAC contractors, others do not, and Illinois itself keeps no state license or record for HVAC contractors, so there is no statewide credential to check either way.
For a repair on your air conditioner, the part of the job with a real backstop is the refrigerant. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your system, whether to recover it, recharge it, or reach a failed part behind it, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, and that rule holds no matter where in Illinois or the country the house is. Beyond that, whether anyone else checks the work depends on what your own city or town requires, since the state leaves that decision to them.
Source: Illinois General Assembly
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter choking off airflow, so start there and replace it if it looks gray or clogged. A dirty outdoor unit can do the same thing, so check that the condenser coil outside isn't packed with grass clippings or leaves. If the filter and the outdoor unit are both clear, the system may be low on refrigerant, and that points to a leak somewhere in the line, which is a job for a contractor to find and fix.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most of the time this means the condensate drain line is clogged, so water backs up and drips out instead of draining away. Algae and dust build up inside that line over time, especially during the months your AC runs most, June through August here. A frozen evaporator coil can also cause a leak once it thaws, so if you notice ice on the coil or lines, turn the system off and let it thaw before calling someone out.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat first. Make sure it's set to cool and the temperature is below the room temperature, and if it runs on batteries, try fresh ones. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker box, since a tripped breaker will keep the whole system from starting. If the breaker keeps tripping once you reset it, stop and have a contractor look at it rather than resetting it again.