AC Maintenance in Beckley, WV
Air conditioners here run from June through August, so May is the time for a tune-up. Tell us about your system, and a licensed contractor who covers Raleigh County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of work after months sitting idle
Your air conditioner in Raleigh County only runs June through August, then sits unused the rest of the year. A unit that sat idle that long can have a stuck contactor, a weak capacitor, or a coil that collected dirt while the fan wasn't turning.
Raleigh County has also logged 17 hail events and 105 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind that strong can bend a fin or knock an outdoor unit out of level without ever cracking the cabinet. A tune-up before summer checks the capacitor, the refrigerant charge, and the outdoor unit itself, so a problem that built up while it sat idle turns up before the heat does.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 80°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 17 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 105 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Book your AC tune-up in May, before homes here start needing cooling in June.
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
A tune-up checks the refrigerant charge, cleans the coils, tests the capacitor and tightens the electrical connections.
West Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the state, through the Commissioner of Labor, and it belongs to the contractor rather than to any single job. That means the person or company doing the work has been tested and is on record with the state, not that the state signs off on each visit.
For a maintenance visit on your air conditioner, that license is what stands behind the contractor's name. If the work involves opening the refrigerant side of the system, the technician doing it also has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, which is a federal rule that applies no matter what state you're in.
Source: West Virginia Legislature
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A contractor checks refrigerant charge, cleans the condenser coil, and tests the capacitor and contactor in the outdoor unit. Inside, they check the evaporator coil and the condensate drain, since a clogged drain line is one of the most common reasons an AC stops cooling on a hot day. They also check the thermostat and airflow, and replace the filter if you haven't already. Anyone opening the refrigerant side of the system has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, which every licensed contractor's technicians carry.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year, before the weather turns warm. Here, that means getting it done before June, since cooling season runs June through August with summer afternoons averaging 80°F. A yearly check catches a weak capacitor or a low refrigerant charge before it leaves you without cooling on one of those hot afternoons.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, because most AC failures trace back to something maintenance would have caught, like a failing capacitor or a dirty condenser coil making the compressor work harder than it should. With only three months of real cooling need here, a system that skips maintenance is more likely to struggle right when you need it most. It also matters after storms. This area has seen 105 damaging wind events and 17 hail events over the past ten years, and a maintenance visit is a chance to have the outdoor unit checked for bent fins or debris after weather like that.