AC Repair in Rifle, CO
If your air conditioner quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Garfield County will get in touch.
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Rifle doesn't ask much of an air conditioner
Summer afternoons here average 77 degrees, which is mild work for a cooling system. Heat alone does not wear a unit down in a summer like that.
What wears on an air conditioner in Garfield County is more likely to come from outside it. Ten years of records show 144 damaging wind events and 3 hail events, one dropping stones 1.5 inches across. Wind can bend the fins on the outdoor coil or knock loose the panels and wiring around the unit, and hail that size can dent a cabinet or crack a fan blade. If your AC is running rough or not cooling right after a storm, that is often where to look.
- 77°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 3 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 144 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 Garfield County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Garfield 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 choking off airflow across the coil. A low refrigerant charge from a leak will do the same thing, and so will a coil caked in dirt. If the outdoor unit is running but the air from your vents is barely cool, a contractor needs to check the charge and find out whether anything is leaking, since low refrigerant is not something you can just top off without fixing the cause.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most of the time this is a clogged condensate drain line. Your AC pulls a lot of moisture out of the air, and that water is supposed to run out through a drain line to the outside. Algae or dirt can block that line, and once it backs up the water has nowhere to go but into your house. A frozen coil can also cause this, dripping water as it thaws, usually because of low airflow or low refrigerant.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker. Check that the thermostat is set to cool and the temperature is actually below room temperature, and check your electrical panel for a tripped breaker. If those look fine, a tripped safety switch, a bad capacitor, or a wiring problem could be keeping the unit from starting, and any of those needs a contractor to diagnose.