AC Repair in Starkville, MS
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Oktibbeha County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of hard running in Starkville heat
Your air conditioner works from May through September here, with summer afternoons averaging 91°F. That kind of stretch means the compressor runs long hours day after day, and the capacitor that helps start it takes the strain each time the system cycles on. When a capacitor weakens, the unit struggles to start or the fan runs without the compressor kicking in.
Oktibbeha County has also logged 91 damaging wind events and 6 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Wind can bend the thin fins on your outdoor unit or fling debris into it, and hail that size can dent the coil or the fan cage. Either one cuts down the airflow the system needs to cool your home.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 6 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 91 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $60 a year off cooling for a typical Oktibbeha County home.
Estimates for a typical Oktibbeha County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Mississippi 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.
Mississippi requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license is issued to the contractor, not to the job, so it does not get renewed or reinspected each time someone calls for a repair. The state tested and registered the person or business once, and that record is what you're relying on when you hire them.
For an air conditioner repair, that license is what stands behind the work itself, but anyone opening the refrigerant lines also has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, a federal requirement in every state regardless of what Mississippi does on its own. That certification covers handling refrigerant safely. It's not part of the state license, and it's not optional for this kind of repair.
Source: Mississippi State Board of Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time the refrigerant is low from a leak somewhere in the line, or the coil has iced over and is blocking airflow. A dirty air filter can also starve the system of airflow until the coil freezes. Whatever the cause, the fix means opening the refrigerant side of the system, and by federal law only a technician with EPA Section 608 certification can do that legally.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The drain line that carries condensation away from your indoor unit is probably clogged. Algae and dirt build up in that line over a cooling season and back the water up until it finds another way out, usually through the drain pan or the ceiling below the unit. It can also mean the drain pan itself has rusted through and needs replacing.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker. If the thermostat has fresh batteries and is calling for cooling, and the breaker hasn't tripped, the problem is likely inside the unit, in the capacitor or the contactor that sends power to the compressor. A licensed contractor can test which part failed and replace it.