Air Conditioner Repair in Wheat Ridge

The May 8, 2017 hailstorm, one of the most expensive in Colorado history, dropped its largest hail on the west metro, including Wheat Ridge, Lakewood and Golden. Hail flattens condenser coil fins and can puncture coil tubes or crack fan blades. A coil that's been hit moves less air, runs at higher pressure and is more likely to trip a breaker or fail a capacitor on a hot day.

Older lots with mature trees add their own debris: leaves, seed pods and cottonwood fluff that mat on the coil each spring. A coil cleaning is sometimes the whole repair.

We check the thermostat, filter, breaker and disconnect, then test the capacitor and contactor, fan motor and compressor amp draw. We read refrigerant pressures with superheat or subcooling, inspect the evaporator coil and drain, and measure the temperature split and static pressure so we can tell you whether the issue is the equipment or the ducts. Every price is flat-rate and quoted before we start. The diagnostic is free with the repair, and evening and weekend calls carry no overtime.

Electrical parts like capacitors, contactors and fan motors are worth replacing on nearly any working system. A failed compressor, a leaking R-22 system (that refrigerant is no longer made), or a unit past about 15 to 20 years usually isn't. In many homes here, the smartest money goes into an added return or resized ducts at the same time as new equipment.

The City of Wheat Ridge Building Division requires a permit for air conditioner and swamp cooler replacement, submitted through its OpenGov portal and inspected afterward. If you're replacing, ask us about heat pumps; with Xcel Energy as the utility, qualifying heat pumps have been eligible for rebates that standard AC isn't.