TAMPA, Fla. — With record heat comes a number of problems. Now AC units are giving out, and the wait times for repairs can take anywhere from a day to several months.
“I came home from work yesterday, and it was 80, a little too hot for a house that’s supposed to be cooled,” exclaimed Seminole Heights resident Erik Riter.
He immediately knew that his air conditioning unit had given out.
Inconvenienced by a humid home, but Riter is actually one of the lucky ones for two reasons: His AC unit lasted 12 years when many only last 10 in Florida, and he is subscribed for HVAC maintenance with an AC company that gets him to the top of the list when he calls.
“I actually called yesterday, but I got first dibs today, which was nice,” he said.
With weeks of record heat in Tampa Bay, Rick’s A/C contractor Julie Magill explained that people are cranking their air down so low that they’re overworking their units, causing them to freeze up completely.
“We have an onslaught of AC calls,” Macgill said. “To try to schedule them and get everybody on schedule in one day is nearly impossible. Then we have to pick and choose who needs it the most. If it’s a family with small kids or someone with a health problem, we need to get to them first, and then we have to push the other people out later.”
She can get her techs out within that week, but some parts can take up to 3 months.
"Certain suppliers have supply chain issues, still… and they might take tell us three months before we can get a coil. We have to get rescue motors sometimes because the original equipment motors are not available,” she explained.
She added that some people go months without AC because they can’t afford a new unit.
For Riter, he said it’s a thousand-dollar temporary fix versus nearly $5,000 for a new unit.
“I’m probably gonna try to get to Friday. I don’t wanna think about that. I’m busy with work right now,” he exclaimed. “As long as my house stays coolish and I can live it, I am probably gonna put that at the back of my mind, and then after work, start looking at what the costs are.”
Macgill said AC units are more likely to break if they are set to more than 15 to 20 degrees below the temperature outside.
Other things you can do to keep your air conditioning working include:
- Maintenance on AC units, such as cleaning your condenser.
- Turn on portable or ceiling fans to keep the air moving.
- Close the curtains and blinds to keep sunlight from warming your home.