AC Maintenance in Keyser, 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 Mineral County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of work, then months sitting idle
Your air conditioner in Keyser only earns its keep June through August, when summer afternoons average 85°F. For the rest of the year it sits outside doing nothing. A system that sits that long can seize up or trip a problem when you switch it back on, even if nothing was wrong with it in August.
Mineral County has logged 66 damaging wind events and 6 hail events over the last ten years, including one hailstone a full inch across. A tune-up before summer is when a contractor checks the outdoor unit for anything a storm left behind and makes sure it starts up clean for the first hot afternoon.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 85°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 6 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 66 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 state licenses the contractor, not the individual visit. The Commissioner of Labor tests and records the business before it can take HVAC jobs, so the license follows the company across every home it works in, not just this one.
For a maintenance call on an air conditioner, the part of the job that carries real risk is anything touching the refrigerant, and that is covered separately. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your system, even to check the charge, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That rule comes from the federal government and applies the same way in every state, on top of whatever West Virginia requires of the contractor.
Source: West Virginia Legislature
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A technician checks refrigerant pressure, cleans the condenser coil, and tests the capacitor and contactor in the outdoor unit. They also check the evaporator coil, change or check the filter, and confirm the system is cooling to the right temperature split. Anyone opening the refrigerant lines to check the charge has to hold an EPA Section 608 certification, which is a federal rule everywhere.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year, before the season it runs hardest. Here that means getting it checked before June, since the unit only runs June through August. A yearly check catches a weak capacitor or a dirty coil before a 85°F afternoon turns it into a no-cool call.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, because it catches the small failures before they become no-cool days. A capacitor that's starting to weaken or a coil that's caked with dirt still runs, just poorly, and maintenance is when a technician finds that. Homes here only need cooling for three months a year, so getting the unit checked before June gives it the best chance of working when the heat sets in.