By the time you are thinking about the pool and the lake, your air conditioner has already told you whether it is ready for another Columbia summer. It told you last August. The power bills, the bedroom that never cooled, the sound you stopped hearing, the water in the pan in the attic: each was the system’s report card from the last season, and some of us set it aside once the weather broke. This post is about picking it back up now, while there is still time to act on it before the first 100-degree day hits.
Start with the bills
Pull up the July and August bills from last year and set them beside the ones from the year before, allowing for any rate change. A system that costs noticeably more to run for similar weather is running longer to deliver the same cooling, and the usual reasons are a dirty coil, a low refrigerant charge, or a duct that has come apart in the attic. Bills that climbed steadily over two or three summers describe a system losing capacity, which on an older unit is the compressor. Either way, the bill is the earliest and most reliable warning the system gives, and it is one that a tune-up in spring can answer.
Then the rooms
Think back to which rooms were comfortable and which were not. If the upstairs of a two-story house baked while the downstairs was fine, the ductwork or the sizing is the problem, and no amount of lowering the thermostat fixes it. If one bedroom at the end of the hall was always warm, a duct joint has likely separated in the attic, where Columbia summer heat reaches 130 degrees and cooled air pours out into it. If the whole house felt sticky at 74 degrees, the system was short cycling and never running long enough to dry the air, which points to a dirty coil, a low charge, or a system that was oversized from the start. Each of those has a specific fix, and each is easier in April than in July.
What’s that sound?
A system you live with for years has a sound you stop hearing, and last summer’s new sounds are worth recalling. A hum from the outdoor unit before the fan caught, or a system that took two tries to start, was a capacitor wearing out, and a capacitor that was tired in August is closer to failure now. A click that repeated without the compressor starting was the contactor. Squealing was a motor bearing. Rattling was a loose panel or a blower wheel out of balance. None of those repaired themselves over the winter, and each is an inexpensive part in spring and a compressor in a heat wave.
Understanding water from your system
If there was water in the drain pan last summer, a stain on the ceiling below the air handler, or a float switch that shut the system down on a hot afternoon, the condensate line was clogging with the algae that Columbia humidity grows every season. It will do so again. Clearing and treating the line is a routine maintenance item, and adding a float switch if the system lacks one is what keeps the next clog from becoming a drywall repair.
Know your system’s history
The last piece of evidence is on the outdoor unit. Read the manufacture date, since a system in the Midlands lasts about 12 to 15 years with maintenance, and one that is past 12 and produced two or more of the signs above is a candidate for replacement rather than another repair. A system under 10 with those signs is almost always worth repairing. Knowing which you have before the season starts is the difference between choosing a new system in April with time to compare, and taking whatever can be installed soonest in a July heat wave.
Reading the report card
- Bills up, rooms uneven, or the house sticky: schedule a tune-up now, and ask for the airflow and refrigerant readings, which will point to the cause.
- A new sound or water in the pan last summer: schedule a repair visit before the heat, while the part is small and the calendar is open.
- A system past 12 years with two or more signs: ask for both a repair quote and a replacement quote, and take your time with them. Cloud 10 members receive 5 percent off new equipment.
- None of the above: change the filter monthly through October and keep the maintenance visits on the calendar, because a clean report card is what those visits produce.
Before the first hot week
2nd Wind Heating & Air Conditioning has served Columbia since 1985. If last August left you with a report card you would rather not repeat, schedule online or through the website chat at any hour. The technician will confirm what the evidence suggested, record the readings, and lay out the options with the reasoning behind each. Same-day emergency service applies to residential properties only, and members of the Cloud 10 Membership receive priority scheduling when the season turns.