AC Repair

"The AC is not cooling" is a symptom. A restricted filter, a dirty condenser coil, a failed capacitor, a blocked condensate drain, a refrigerant leak and a duct problem can all produce it, and several of them can be present at once. Articles that promise a single cause behind a single symptom are usually oversimplifying.

That distinction matters practically. A confirmed diagnosis comes from measurements taken on site — temperature split across the coil, static pressure, electrical readings, refrigerant behaviour under real conditions — not from a description over the phone. What a good description does is help the visit start in the right place, which is why the guides here focus on observation rather than conclusions.

When you call, the details that help most are simple: what the thermostat is set to versus what the room reads, whether the outdoor unit is running, whether air is coming from the vents, when it started, and whether anything changed recently such as a storm, a power interruption or a filter change.

There is a short list of things worth checking before a technician is dispatched, and all of them can be done without opening an electrical panel or removing an access cover on energised equipment.

If none of these resolve the problem, stop there. Refrigerant handling, capacitor testing and any work inside an energised unit require training, tools and licensing — those are not homeowner tasks, and attempting them risks injury and further damage.

Some symptoms mean the right action is to turn the system off and leave it off until it has been looked at. Continuing to run equipment in these conditions can turn a contained repair into a larger one, and a few of them are safety issues rather than comfort issues.

In those situations, switch the thermostat to off, and if the breaker is accessible and clearly labelled, turn it off as well. Then call. Our emergency HVAC page explains how after-hours requests are handled and what information to have ready.

Equipment here works under conditions much of the country never sees: a cooling season that runs most of the year, dew points in the seventies for months at a time, attic temperatures well above outdoor temperatures, salt and moisture near the lake and the Northshore, and storm exposure every summer and autumn.

That changes which failures are common. Condensate systems move far more water here than in a dry climate, so drain blockages and overflow switches are a routine cause of a system that suddenly stops. Attic-mounted air handlers and long duct runs through hot, humid attics lose capacity and pull in moist air wherever they leak. Long runtime accelerates wear on capacitors, contactors and blower motors. And a system that cools but leaves the house feeling clammy is frequently an oversizing or airflow issue rather than a broken part.

It is also why humidity deserves its own attention. A house at 76°F and 50% relative humidity is more comfortable than the same house at 73°F and 65%. When indoor humidity stays high while the system runs, that points toward runtime, airflow, duct leakage or sizing rather than a simple component failure.

The guides in this category are organised around the three things homeowners actually need: troubleshooting language, a sense of urgency, and preparation. Troubleshooting articles walk through what a given symptom typically indicates and what has to be measured to confirm it. Urgency articles help separate a failure that should be handled now from one that can wait for a scheduled appointment. Preparation articles cover what to have ready — access to the equipment, a clear description of the symptom, and any history of previous repairs.

None of them replace an on-site diagnosis, and none of them should be used to price a repair in advance. Cost depends on the specific part, the access to the equipment, refrigerant type and system age, which is why written estimates come after the diagnosis rather than before it.

For background on how a repair visit itself works, the AC repair service page covers the diagnostic process. If you need the equipment looked at in one of our core markets, the New Orleans, Metairie and Kenner AC repair pages describe what is typical in each of those areas.

We do not publish guaranteed response windows, because honest scheduling depends on current availability, how many calls are already open and where they are. During a heat wave or after a storm, demand across the metro rises sharply and appointment times move accordingly.

What we can do is tell you plainly what is available when you call. Phone (504) 762-0331 with your address and a description of the symptom, and you will get a realistic answer for that day rather than a promise made in advance.