AC Maintenance in Yakima, WA
Air conditioners here run from July through July, so June is the time for a tune-up. Tell us about your system, and a licensed contractor who covers Yakima County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Yakima summers put real hours on your air conditioner
Summer afternoons here average 78°F, and your air conditioner answers to that heat day after day. It is not the kind of extreme that breaks a unit in one afternoon. It is the steady demand that wears on it over the season, cycle after cycle.
A tune-up catches what that wear is starting to do. A tech checks refrigerant charge, tests the capacitor, and clears the coil and drain line before a weak part gives out in the middle of a hot week.
- 1 months
- July through July, your air conditioner is on duty
- 78°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 1 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 21 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.
Registration means the contractor's business is on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. Nobody tested their trade knowledge to put them there. It's a record that they exist and are on the books, not a credential that says they know how to service your air conditioner.
For a maintenance visit, the protection that actually applies comes from federal rule, not the state. If the technician opens the refrigerant side of your system to check the charge or deal with a leak, they have to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That's a tested credential, and it's required in every state, Washington included. It covers the refrigerant work specifically, not the visit as a whole.
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. Inside, they check the evaporator coil and the condensate drain to make sure it isn't clogged. They also check the thermostat calls the system correctly and look over the electrical connections for wear. Anyone opening the refrigerant lines has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, so that part of the job can't be skipped or done informally.
- 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 summer, since the unit runs from July through July and afternoons average 78 degrees. A yearly check catches a weak capacitor or a dirty coil before it causes a breakdown on a hot day.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, because most of what breaks down on an air conditioner shows warning signs first. A weak capacitor, a coil caked with dirt, a low refrigerant charge, these things get worse slowly, and a technician can catch them during a checkup instead of after the system quits. A contractor can walk through what a specific unit needs and price the visit.