AC Maintenance in Troy, MI
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 Oakland County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of summer is short, but hard on the parts
Your air conditioner in Troy only has June through August to do its job, and it runs hard those three months trying to keep up with afternoons that average 80°F. That kind of steady demand, packed into a short stretch, wears on the parts that keep the system running instead of spreading that wear across the year.
A tune-up before the season checks the parts that carry that load, like the capacitor and the refrigerant charge, while the problems are still small. Troy has also logged 164 damaging wind events and 25 hail events over the past ten years, some with hail up to 2 inches. A service visit is also a chance to look over the outdoor unit for any damage from those storms before summer puts it to work again.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 80°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 25 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 164 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.
Michigan requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Michigan licenses HVAC contractors through the Board of Mechanical Rules. The license is issued to the contractor, not to each job, so it covers the business doing the work rather than any single visit to your house.
Maintenance on an air conditioner usually means someone is checking refrigerant levels and pressures. Anyone who opens the refrigerant side of the system needs EPA Section 608 certification. That is a federal rule and it applies here the same as it does in every other state. So this job has the state license behind the contractor and the federal certification behind whoever actually handles the refrigerant.
Sources: Michigan Legislature · Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
- 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, since a clogged drain can back up and shut the system down. They also check the thermostat settings and look over the electrical connections, since a loose connection is a common cause of a system that trips off on its own. On a system with a belt-driven blower they check belt tension, though most residential systems today are direct-drive and have no belt.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year is the standard, ideally before the weather turns warm. Homes in Troy only need cooling from June through August, so having the system checked in spring gives a contractor time to catch a weak capacitor or a low refrigerant charge before the first hot week hits. Skipping a year does not always cause a breakdown, but it does mean small problems go longer before anyone looks at them.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, because most of what makes an air conditioner fail shows up as a small sign before it becomes a breakdown. A weak capacitor, a coil losing airflow, or a slow refrigerant leak all give warning if someone is looking. In Troy the cooling season only runs three months, so a system that goes into June already stressed has little room to make up for it before an August afternoon at 80 degrees pushes it hard.