AC Repair in Tupelo, MS
Air conditioners here run from May through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lee County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Tupelo heat wears an AC down
From May through September your air conditioner is working most days, with summer afternoons averaging 90°F. That kind of stretch keeps the compressor running long hours, and it's usually the compressor or the capacitor that gives out first under that load. You'll notice the air coming from the vents isn't as cold, or the unit runs and runs without catching up to the thermostat.
Lee County also sees its share of hail and wind, 35 hail events and 94 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2.5 inches. The outdoor unit sits outside for all of it, and a hard hit can bend the fins on the condenser coil or damage the fan. Sometimes the unit still runs after a storm, but not the way it did before.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 35 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 94 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $50 a year off cooling for a typical Lee County home.
Estimates for a typical Lee 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 Mississippi State Board of Contractors tests and licenses HVAC contractors across the state. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license that covers a new install covers a repair call like this one.
For an air conditioner repair, that state license is what stands behind the work. If the repair involves opening the refrigerant side of the system, which most air conditioner repairs do, the technician also has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That certification is federal and applies in every state, not something Mississippi adds on top. Between the two, you know the contractor is licensed by the state and certified to handle the refrigerant itself.
Source: Mississippi State Board of Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most often the filter is clogged enough to choke off airflow, or the outdoor unit is dirty and cannot shed heat the way it needs to. A refrigerant leak will also do this, and that only shows up as low pressure once enough has leaked out, so it can seem to happen suddenly. With summer afternoons here hitting 90°F, a system that is low on refrigerant or blocked will struggle most in the hottest part of the day. A contractor needs to check pressures and airflow to know which one it is.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The drain line that carries condensation away from your indoor coil is clogged, or the pan underneath it has rusted through. Algae and dust build up in that line over a cooling season and eventually block it, so the water backs up and finds its way out somewhere it shouldn't. A frozen coil will also drip once it thaws, usually from restricted airflow. Clearing the line or replacing the pan fixes most of these.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check your thermostat batteries and the breaker for the outdoor unit first, since those cause more no-start calls than anything inside the system. If both are fine, the capacitor that starts the compressor may have failed, or a safety switch is holding the system off because of a real problem like a clogged drain line. A contractor can test the capacitor and safety switches to find out which it is.