AC Repair in McAllen, TX
Air conditioners here run from February through November. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Hidalgo County will get in touch.
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Ten months of cooling in McAllen heat
Your air conditioner runs from February through November here. That is ten months of the year with almost no break, and summer afternoons averaging 97°F push it hard on top of that. The compressor and the fan motor carry that load day after day, and long runtimes like that wear on both.
Hidalgo County has also seen 50 hail events and 90 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2.75 inches. That kind of storm can bend the fins on your outdoor unit or damage the fan blade, and you may not notice until the unit is straining to cool the house on the next hot afternoon.
- 10 months
- February through November, your air conditioner is on duty
- 97°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 50 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 90 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $120 a year off cooling for a typical Hidalgo County home.
Estimates for a typical Hidalgo County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Texas 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.
Texas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
That license comes from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and it means the contractor was tested and is on record with the state. It covers the contractor as a whole, not the specific repair being done at your house.
For an air conditioner repair, the license is what stands behind the person doing the work. If the repair involves opening the refrigerant lines, which most air conditioner repairs do, the technician also has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That one is federal and applies everywhere in the country, not just Texas.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common reason is a dirty air filter choking off airflow, so start there before anything else. A clogged filter starves the evaporator coil of air and can cause it to ice over, which then blows warm or weak air until it thaws. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common cause, and that one needs a contractor to find the leak and fix it, since refrigerant does not just run low on its own. With McAllen running summer afternoons near 97 degrees and cooling needed nearly all year here, a system that falls behind on a few degrees of cooling gets noticed fast.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged. As your AC pulls moisture out of the air, that water is supposed to drain out through this line, and algae or debris can block it over time, sending water backing up into your home instead. A dirty air filter can also cause the evaporator coil to freeze, and water shows up when that ice melts. Either way, a contractor can clear the line or find the actual source so it stops happening.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check your thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped off cool will stop your AC before it ever starts. If the thermostat looks fine, a tripped breaker or a blown fuse at the outdoor unit is the next likely spot, and that can happen after a storm. McAllen sees its share of damaging wind and hail, with 90 damaging wind events and hail up to 2.75 inches recorded here over the past ten years, so a unit that worked fine yesterday can trip out after a rough storm. If power and the thermostat both check out, a licensed contractor will need to look at the unit itself, and in Texas that means someone licensed through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.