AC Maintenance in Brookings, SD
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 Brookings County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of work, packed into one season
Your air conditioner in Brookings County only earns its keep from June through August, but those afternoons average 79°F, and the unit has to keep up every one of those days. That short, hard stretch is what wears on it, not a long mild season but a compressed one.
The county has also logged 33 hail events and 77 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. That kind of weather can bend the fins on the outdoor coil or knock the unit out of alignment without you knowing it happened. A tune-up before summer is the time to catch a bent coil, a low refrigerant charge, or a fan that is not spinning true, before the first hot week asks the unit to do more than it can.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 79°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 33 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 77 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.
In South Dakota, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the cities and towns.
Brookings County itself does not run a state license file, and whether the city checks credentials at all depends on whether Brookings or another town in the county has its own rule on the books. There is no statewide test or record to point to either way.
For a maintenance visit on your air conditioner, the credential that does apply everywhere is federal. If the technician is going to touch the refrigerant side of the system, checking charge, adding refrigerant, working on the coil, they are required to hold EPA Section 608 certification, no matter what town they're working in. That one is not optional and does not depend on local rules.
Source: South Dakota Legislature
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A technician checks refrigerant charge, cleans the outdoor coil, and tests the capacitor and contactor that start the compressor. They also check the blower motor, inspect the filter, and look at the electrical connections for wear. Outside coils here pick up debris after wind and hail events, so cleaning that coil is part of the job. Anyone opening the refrigerant side has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, no matter which town the house is in.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year, before the season it works hardest. In Brookings that means getting it looked at before June, since the unit only runs June through August and has to be ready from the first hot afternoon. A yearly check catches a weak capacitor or a dirty coil before it fails once summer starts.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, because a short cooling season leaves little room for a breakdown. Three months a year is all the work this system has to do, so it needs to run right from June on. Brookings sees enough hail and wind that the outdoor unit is worth checking each spring, looking at the coil and fins for damage before the season starts.