If your AC is running but the house won't cool down, the cause is usually one of three things: a clogged filter choking off airflow, a dirty or blocked outdoor unit, or low refrigerant from a leak. Check the filter first. And if you see ice anywhere on the system, shut it off before you do anything else.
If you see ice, turn the system off now
This is the one thing worth doing immediately.
Go look at the copper lines running into your outdoor unit, and look at the indoor unit if you can get to it. If there's frost or a solid coat of ice on either one, turn the system off at the thermostat. Leave the fan set to on so it can thaw.
Running an air conditioner with a frozen coil pushes liquid refrigerant back toward the compressor. The compressor is built to compress gas, not liquid. That is the most expensive part of your system, and on a unit that's already a decade old, killing it usually means replacing the whole thing rather than repairing it.
A full thaw takes a few hours. Once it's clear, you still need to find out why it froze, because ice is a symptom and not the problem. It's almost always weak airflow or low refrigerant.
Four things to check yourself
None of these need tools, and any of them can save you a service call.
Thermostat. Set to cool, temperature set below the current room reading, and the fan set to auto rather than on. Fan on auto means it only blows when the system is actually cooling. Fan set to on runs the blower constantly, which moves room-temperature air through the vents between cooling cycles and makes people think the AC quit.
Filter. Pull it out and hold it up to a light. If you can't see light through it, that's your problem. A packed filter starves the system for air, which drops cooling output and eventually freezes the coil.
Outdoor unit. Walk out and look at it. Grass clippings, cottonwood fluff, leaves packed into the fins, a trash can or deck box crowding it. The unit dumps your house's heat into the outside air, and it can't do that if it can't breathe. Give it two feet of clearance on all sides.
Breaker and vents. A central AC has two breakers, one for the indoor blower and one for the outdoor condenser. If the outdoor one tripped, the fan inside will still run and blow uncooled air, which feels exactly like the AC broke. Also walk the house and check that supply vents are open and nothing is sitting on top of a return.
If all four check out and the house still isn't cooling, the problem is on our side of the line.
What we actually find on these calls
Roughly in order of how often we see them:
Low refrigerant. Your system doesn't burn refrigerant the way a car burns gas. The charge is sealed, so if it's low, it leaked. Adding refrigerant without finding the leak means you're paying to fill it again next summer. We find the leak first.
Dirty coils. Both of them matter. The outdoor condenser coil dumps heat outside, the indoor evaporator coil pulls heat out of your air. Either one caked in dirt drops efficiency, and you feel it as a house that gets to 78 and stalls there.
Failed capacitor. The capacitor gives the compressor and fan motors the jolt they need to start. When it weakens, you often get the outdoor fan spinning while the compressor sits there doing nothing. Cheap part, quick fix, and one of the more satisfying calls to run.
Frozen evaporator coil. Covered above. Usually downstream of airflow or refrigerant, not a fault on its own.
Failing compressor. The expensive one. On an older system this is where the repair-or-replace conversation starts.
Duct problems. Leaky or disconnected ductwork in a hot attic or crawlspace means you're cooling the wrong part of the house. Undersized returns cause the same starved-airflow problem as a dirty filter.
What these repairs cost
Almost nobody in this business publishes numbers, which is exactly why we do.
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| AC repair, including diagnosis | Starting at $150 |
| Coil cleaning | Starting at $125 |
| Seasonal tune-up | $89 |
| Small fixes caught during a tune-up | $50 to $150 |
| New system, installed | Starting at $3,200 |
| Nights, weekends, holidays | No extra charge |
That last line is not a promotion. David answers the phone at midnight for the same price he answers it at noon, with no dispatch fee and no after-hours rate.
The $50 to $150 row is the one worth staring at. A weak capacitor, a slightly low charge, or dirty coils caught during a spring tune-up land in that range. The same three problems, left alone until August, turn into a breakdown during the first heat wave when every HVAC company in Lorain County is booked three days out.
When it's worth fixing and when it isn't
Two numbers decide it: the age of the unit and the cost of the repair.
Under 10 years old, almost any repair is worth doing. The system has life left.
Around 15 years old, it depends entirely on the part. A capacitor or a contactor is cheap and clearly worth fixing. A compressor is not. A compressor on a 15-year-old unit costs about as much as a whole new system, and the rest of that unit keeps aging around the new part.
Any age, if the repair runs past half the cost of replacement, replacing usually wins.
We give you both numbers and let you decide. David has talked plenty of people out of a new system they didn't need, which is most of the reason this business has run on referrals for 20 years.
How long it takes
Most repairs get finished on the first visit. David carries common parts on the van, so a capacitor, a contactor, or a coil cleaning is same-day.
A full system replacement runs 4 to 6 hours for a straightforward swap. If we're running new refrigerant lines or doing electrical work, add a couple of hours. You'll have cooling back before we leave either way.
Refrigerant leak repairs are the exception. Finding the leak is the slow part, and depending on where it is, the fix can turn into a conversation about whether the coil is worth replacing at all.
Why this hits harder in a Northeast Ohio summer
Our cooling season is short and it arrives all at once. The system sits idle through a long winter and spring, then gets asked to run hard the first week it hits 90.
Humidity is the part people underestimate. Your AC isn't only dropping the temperature, it's pulling water out of the air, and a system that's low on refrigerant or short on airflow loses the dehumidifying fight first. That's why a house can read 74 on the thermostat and still feel swampy. If your house feels sticky before it feels hot, something is off with the system.
Lake-adjacent homes in Vermilion, Sheffield Lake, and Avon Lake deal with more of this than places further inland.
And it's always the worst day. One of our customers put it plainly after a July call: "First day of a heat wave and they came same day. Honest, reliable, and quick."
Frequently asked questions
Why is my AC running constantly but not cooling? A system that never shuts off is failing to reach the thermostat setpoint. Low refrigerant and restricted airflow are the two usual causes. If it's been running nonstop through a hot stretch, check the filter and the outdoor unit, then call. Continuous running also puts hours on the compressor faster than normal.
Why is my fan running but no cold air coming out? The indoor blower and the outdoor condenser run on separate circuits. If the outdoor unit lost power, tripped its breaker, or has a failed capacitor, the indoor fan keeps blowing air that never got cooled. Go outside and confirm the outdoor unit is actually running.
Should I turn my AC off if it's not cooling? Yes, if you see ice, or if the outdoor unit is making a grinding or screeching noise. In both cases running it longer risks the compressor. If it's simply cooling weakly with no ice and no strange noise, it's fine to leave it running until we get there.
Can I add refrigerant myself? No. Refrigerant handling requires EPA certification, and a system that's low is a system that's leaking. Topping it off treats the symptom while the leak keeps going, and overcharging causes its own damage.
Is no AC an emergency? It is if there's a heat advisory and you have elderly family or young kids in the house. Call us and we'll come out. Emergency service runs 24 hours a day at no extra charge.
Still not cooling?
Call David at (440) 988-2277. Most Lorain County calls we're there within 2 to 3 hours, and you'll get a real arrival time instead of a four-hour window.
More on what we handle: air conditioning repair and installation. We cover Amherst, Elyria, Lorain, Avon, and the rest of Lorain County.
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