AC Repair in Mitchell, SD
Air conditioners here run from June through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Davison County will get in touch.
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Three months of real heat, and storms in between
Your air conditioner in Mitchell only gets three months to prove itself, June through August, but it earns its keep on those 84°F afternoons. A unit that sits idle most of the year can be slow to catch a problem when it finally kicks on for the season, and a weak capacitor or a low refrigerant charge shows up fast once the compressor has to work that hard.
Davison County has seen 36 hail events and 72 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Hail up to 1.75 inches can bend the fins on your outdoor coil or dent the fan housing, and either one cuts down how well the unit sheds heat. After a storm, that often shows up as an air conditioner that runs longer than it used to, or blows air that is not as cold as it should be.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 36 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 72 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would save little on running costs in Davison County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Davison County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, South Dakota fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when a part like a capacitor or contactor has failed.
Replacement makes sense when the compressor has failed or the system uses R-22 refrigerant, which is no longer made.
In South Dakota, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the cities and towns.
Whether a contractor needs a license for this job depends on the city or town, not the state. South Dakota does not test contractors or keep a record of them. Some municipalities require their own license to work on homes there and some may not, and there is no state list to check either way.
For a repair on your air conditioner, the credential that does apply everywhere is federal. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your system must hold EPA Section 608 certification, and most AC repairs mean working on that side of the system. That holds true whether or not the city has a license requirement of its own.
Source: South Dakota Legislature
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter choking off airflow across the coil, which can make the coil ice up and send warm air through the vents. Low refrigerant from a leak is another common cause, and that's a job for a contractor since only someone with EPA Section 608 certification can legally open the refrigerant side. A failing compressor will also cause this, and that usually shows up alongside strange noises or the outdoor unit not running at all.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most of the time this is a clogged condensate drain line, since the line fills with algae and dirt over the summer and backs up. It can also mean the coil has iced over and is now melting, which often traces back to a dirty filter or low airflow. Either way the water should be traced to its source before more damage happens to the floor or the unit itself.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat, since dead batteries or a setting knocked off cool will stop the system before it ever starts. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker, since a tripped breaker will cut power to the whole unit. Mitchell sees its share of summer storms, 72 damaging wind events and 36 hail events over the past ten years, and a storm can trip a breaker or damage the outdoor unit enough to stop it from starting.