What goes wrong, and what it costs.
The faults that actually come up in a Phoenix summer: what the symptom usually means, what you can check yourself in ten minutes, and the flat price if it needs a visit.
The AC is running, but the house isn't cooling.
Air is moving, the house is climbing, and nothing has tripped. Here is the order to check things in.
Read itThe vents are blowing warm air.
Air is moving. It is simply not cold. Start with the setting that costs nothing to fix.
Read itNothing happens at all.
No air, no hum, nothing. Four of the five causes cost nothing to rule out.
Read itGet the AC ready before the first 110 day.
The system gets five months of near-continuous duty starting in May. March is when that is cheap to prepare for.
Read itA capacitor is the cheapest thing that stops an AC.
Humming, a fan that will not start, a unit that trips on the hottest afternoon of the year. Usually a part the size of a soda can.
Read itThe breaker keeps tripping.
A breaker trips because something is drawing more current than it should. That is information, not an inconvenience.
Read itIt starts, runs a few minutes, and quits.
Short run times are a symptom with half a dozen causes, and the compressor pays for all of them.
Read itSomething smells wrong when the AC runs.
Three different smells, three different causes, and one of them is not an AC problem at all.
Read itIt is making a noise it did not used to make.
Each sound maps to a different part. Knowing which is which saves you a diagnosis.
Read itWater on the floor, or an AC that shuts itself off.
A ceiling stain, a wet closet floor, or a system that quits with no fault code. Usually the drain, not the AC.
Read itEvery room is fine except one.
The system is working. Something between it and that room is not.
Read itIt never shuts off.
On a 115 day this may be the system doing its job. The rest of the year it is a question worth asking.
Read itWhat the line items on an AC quote mean.
A translation, line by line, so you can tell what you are being asked to buy.
Read itRepair it, or replace it.
The questions that actually decide it, from someone with nothing to gain from either answer.
Read itIce on the AC line, in a Phoenix summer.
A frozen coil in July looks absurd and it is not. It means airflow or refrigerant, and running it that way risks the compressor.
Read itAfter a dust storm.
A wall of dust goes somewhere. A good deal of it goes into your condenser.
Read itThe AC quit and it is 115 outside.
Heat in this city is a safety problem before it is a comfort problem. Triage first, diagnosis second.
Read itThermostats, and the C-wire problem.
The wire nobody mentions until the new thermostat is already on the wall.
Read itThe house is cool and still feels clammy.
Temperature is only half of comfort. In monsoon season the other half shows up.
Read itWhat an AC tune-up actually includes.
Three different visits, three different prices, and a plain list of what separates them.
Read itComing back for the season.
The house sat at 85 for five months with nobody in it. Here is what that does to a system, and what to sort out before you arrive.
Read itYou are watching the house and the AC stopped.
Not your house, not your call, and still your problem for the next few hours. Here is the order to work in.
Read itShort-term rentals and the AC.
A guest message at 9pm in July is the most expensive message you get. Most of them are preventable.
Read itYou think you were taken.
Document first, conclude second. Half of these turn out to be bad communication, and the other half need a paper trail.
Read itWhat AC repair costs, written down before you call.
The common repairs, with the numbers attached, and an explanation of why they do not move once someone is on site.
Read itBarely anything is coming out of the vents.
The air is cold enough. There is just not much of it, which is its own problem.
Read itWater is coming out of a vent.
Water at a vent is not condensation on the grille. Something upstream is overflowing.
Read itThere is ice on the outdoor unit.
Winter frost on a heat pump is routine. Summer ice outside is not, and it points somewhere specific.
Read itDownstairs is fine. Upstairs is not.
Heat rises, the roof is the hottest thing you own, and one system for two floors is a hard ask here.
Read itThe bill doubled and nothing feels different.
Usually the AC, occasionally the rate plan, and the AC version is often cheap to fix.
Read itThe power came back and the AC did not.
Some of this is the system protecting itself. Some of it is real damage from the way the power came back.
Read itYou just got the keys.
A home inspection tells you it turned on. That is a long way from telling you what you own.
Read itYou rent, and the AC is out.
Not legal advice. A practical order of operations, and the paper trail that makes any of it work.
Read itSwamp cooler, or refrigerated air.
Two completely different machines. One is brilliant in May and useless in August.
Read itIt cuts out every afternoon and comes back.
A safety switch is stopping the system before it damages itself. It is telling you something specific.
Read itLeaving the house for a while.
Off is the wrong answer in this city. So is 75. There is a sensible middle.
Read itPets, filters, and a Phoenix summer.
Hair gets past filters and lands on the coil. And a hot Phoenix house is more dangerous for them than for you.
Read itLooking for a part rather than a symptom? The AC terms pages explain every component in plain English, and every question on the site is gathered in one place.
Every price mentioned in these is published on the pricing page, and none of it moves once anyone is on site.
Rather just ask?
Most of the time it can be narrowed down on the phone, and that call is free.