AC Repair in Spearfish, SD
Air conditioners here run from July through July. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lawrence County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Spearfish summers are short but hard on hail-worn units
Summer afternoons here average 78°F, so your air conditioner isn't fighting extreme heat most days. It's the storms that do the damage. Lawrence County has logged 187 hail events in the last ten years, with stones as large as 4.5 inches, and 93 damaging wind events in that same stretch.
Hail that size dents the thin aluminum fins on your outdoor coil and can bend the fan blade or knock the unit out of alignment. High wind loosens electrical connections and rocks the cabinet on its pad. After a storm like that, you'll notice the system running longer to cool the house, or the outdoor unit making a new noise it didn't make before.
- 1 months
- July through July, your air conditioner is on duty
- 78°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 187 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 93 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 Lawrence County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Lawrence 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.
Lawrence County sets its own rule for who can do HVAC work, if it sets one at all. Some cities and towns in South Dakota license contractors on their own, others leave it open, so what applies to your repair depends on whether Lawrence County or the town you're in has a licensing office and what it requires. There is no statewide license or exam behind the name on the truck.
For an air conditioner repair, the piece that is guaranteed no matter where you live in South Dakota is the refrigerant work. If the repair involves opening the sealed system, the technician has to hold EPA Section 608 certification, a federal requirement that applies in every state regardless of what the town does or doesn't license. That certification is not a local credential and it doesn't cover the rest of the job, only the handling of refrigerant itself.
Source: South Dakota Legislature
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most often the filter is clogged enough to choke off airflow, or the coil behind it has iced over because of that restricted air. A refrigerant leak causes the same symptom, air moving but not cold. Check the filter first since that's the one thing you can rule out yourself, and if it's clean, the system needs a contractor to check the refrigerant charge, since only someone with EPA Section 608 certification is allowed to open that side of it.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The drain line that carries condensation away is clogged, or the pan under the coil has cracked. Either way the water that normally drains outside has nowhere to go but out into the house. A contractor can clear the line or replace the pan, whichever it turns out to be.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker, since those cause more no-start calls than anything inside the unit. If the thermostat has power and the breaker hasn't tripped, the problem is likely the capacitor or the contactor, parts that wear out and stop the compressor from starting even though the system is trying. That part of the repair needs a contractor to test and replace.