AC Maintenance in Valley City, ND
Air conditioners here run from July through August, so June is the time for a tune-up. Tell us about your system, and a licensed contractor who covers Barnes County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two short months, with hail and wind behind them
Your air conditioner in Valley City works hard for a short stretch. Only July and August call for cooling, with afternoons averaging 79°F, so the system sits idle most of the year and then has to run through the hottest weeks without warning. A weak capacitor or a low refrigerant charge can sit unnoticed all winter and only show itself the first time the unit has to work.
Barnes County has logged 70 hail events over the past ten years, with hailstones as large as 2.75 inches, plus 55 damaging wind events in that same stretch. Hail that size can bend the fins on an outdoor coil, and wind can knock the unit out of level or dent the cabinet. A tune-up checks the coil and fins for damage, tests the capacitor, and confirms the refrigerant charge, so the two months your air conditioner has to work are not the two months it fails.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 79°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 70 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 55 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Book your AC tune-up in June, before homes here start needing cooling in July.
- 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.
North Dakota requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state license is held by the contractor, not issued job by job, so it is the business itself that North Dakota has on record. Work under $4,000 falls outside this requirement, and most air conditioner maintenance falls under that line.
What still applies regardless of the job's size is the EPA Section 608 certification. Any technician who opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner, to check the charge or service the coil, has to hold that federal certification no matter what state they work in. It comes from the EPA, not North Dakota, and it is separate from the contractor's license.
Sources: North Dakota Legislative Branch · North Dakota Secretary of State
- What does AC maintenance include?
- A technician checks refrigerant pressure, cleans the condenser coil, tests the capacitor, and makes sure the condensate drain is clear. They also check the thermostat is calling for cooling correctly and look at electrical connections for wear. Anything touching the refrigerant side has to be done by someone with EPA Section 608 certification, which every legitimate technician carries.
- How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?
- Once a year, before the season it works hardest. Here that means getting it checked before July, since cooling season only runs July through August. A yearly check catches a weak capacitor or a dirty coil before a 79 degree afternoon asks the system to run flat out.
- Is AC maintenance worth it?
- Yes, because a system that only runs two months a year still sits outside through hail and wind the other ten. This area has seen 70 hail events and 55 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and a bent fin or loosened connection from a storm is easy to miss until the unit is asked to work. A yearly check catches that kind of damage while it is still a small fix.