AC Maintenance in Colville, WA
Air conditioners here run from July through August, so June is the time for a tune-up. Tell us about your system, and a licensed contractor who covers Stevens County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of work, ten months of standing still
Your air conditioner only runs in July and August here, with afternoons around 79°F. That is a short stretch, but the unit spends the other ten months sitting outside doing nothing, and that idle time wears on it in its own way. A capacitor can weaken just from sitting through a cold winter, and a coil can collect a season's worth of dust and debris before it is ever asked to run.
Stevens County has also logged 31 damaging wind events and 12 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2 inches recorded. Wind can rattle a fan blade or loosen the housing on an outdoor unit, and hail that size can dent a cabinet or bend the fins on a coil. A tune-up before the heat sets in is a chance to catch a weak capacitor, a dirty coil, or storm damage before the system has to work.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 79°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 12 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 31 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Book your AC tune-up in June, before homes here start needing cooling in July.
- 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.
Washington requires contractors to register with the state.
Washington puts the contractor's business on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. Registration means the state knows who they are and has a record to pull if something goes wrong. It does not mean anyone tested their knowledge of air conditioners, and there is no exam behind it the way a license would require.
For maintenance work, what actually governs the job is federal. Anyone who opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner, to check the charge or get to the coil, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, and that holds true in Washington the same as it does everywhere else in the country.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A technician checks refrigerant charge, cleans the condenser coil, and tests the capacitor and contactor in the outdoor unit. They also check the evaporator coil, inspect the condensate drain for clogs, and replace or clean the filter. Electrical connections get tightened and the thermostat gets checked against what the system is actually doing. Anything involving refrigerant has to be handled by someone with EPA Section 608 certification, which is a federal requirement for every technician everywhere.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year, before the season it has to work hardest. Here that means getting it checked before July, since cooling only really runs through July and August. A yearly check catches a weak capacitor or a dirty coil before a 79 degree afternoon is the day it fails.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, especially where the cooling season is short. With only two months of real demand each year, a system can sit idle for ten months and develop a problem nobody notices until the first hot afternoon. A yearly check before summer finds a failing capacitor or a dirty coil while there is still time to deal with it, instead of on a 79 degree day when the house needs it most.