AC Repair in Fort Collins, CO
If your air conditioner quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Larimer County will get in touch.
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Fort Collins hail is harder on your AC than the heat is
Summer afternoons here only average 76°F, so your air conditioner is not fighting long, hot stretches the way units farther south do. What it does have to survive is the storms. Larimer County has logged 155 hail events and 102 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2.5 inches recorded.
That kind of hail bends the thin aluminum fins on your outdoor coil and can crack the fan blade or dent the cabinet enough to throw the fan out of balance. Wind that strong can also rattle line connections loose or tip a unit on its pad. You will notice it as a system that runs but cools poorly, a fan that scrapes or wobbles, or a unit that trips off and will not restart after a storm.
- 76°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 155 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 102 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 Larimer County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Larimer County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Colorado 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.
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter cutting off airflow across the coil, which can make the coil ice up and blow warm air. Low refrigerant from a leak does the same thing and won't fix itself, it needs a contractor to find the leak and recharge it properly. A failing compressor is another cause, and that's a repair or replacement call. Check the filter first since that's the one thing you can rule out yourself.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most often the condensate drain line is clogged with algae or debris, so water backs up and spills out instead of draining away outside. A dirty air filter can also cause this, since restricted airflow lets the coil freeze up and then leak as it thaws. Less often, the drain pan itself has rusted through or cracked. A contractor can clear the line or replace the pan depending on what they find.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat, since dead batteries or a setting bumped off cool are the simplest explanation. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker box, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down. Hail and high wind are common here and can damage the outdoor unit or its wiring, so if there's been a recent storm that's worth mentioning to whoever comes out. If none of that explains it, the issue is likely inside the unit and needs a contractor to diagnose.