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How Much Does Air Conditioning Repair Cost | Service Seeking

Written by Oliver Pennington | Nov 15, 2018 8:00:55 AM

Depending on your air conditioner and the type of repair, the cost of air conditioning repair is from $80 to $150 per hour in Australia. These prices may vary significantly from one area to another. These are the factors that influence how much you’ll pay for air conditioning repairs:

  • Prices per hour in your area
  • The cause of the malfunction
  • Whether it is required to replace parts or not
  • Hours needed to finish the repair
  • Discounts may apply to regular customers

To prevent regular malfunctions, you need to ensure good air conditioning installation and then regular maintenance. That’s how you can prolong the lifespan of your air con and reduce the costs related to it. Let’s start with the

What’s wrong with my AC?

This depends on the signs you have noticed from your air-con. The most usual signs and discrepancies in the work of your air conditioner are:

  1. Weak airflow
  2. Increased noise
  3. Leaking and dripping
  4. The air is not cooled, but the fan is working
  5. No power in the air con system

These are all common issues. Now let’s look into the possible causes for these issues:

1. Why Is My Air Con Not Blowing Enough Air?

This is another issue that can have several causes:

  • Ducts or fans are dirty or blocked. Check your ducts and make sure that all your vents are free from any sort of blocking. Also, clean all your ducts and fans.
  • Dirty air filter. Clean it or replace it. You should be doing this once a month anyway.
  • Blower fan has a broken motor.
  • Evaporator coil is dirty.
  • Dirty grille. This is an issue with ducted central air conditioners. 

2. What Does It Mean When Your Air Conditioner Is Making Noises?

Different noises can mean different issues. Here are the most common noises made by your air con unit and what may cause them:

  • Bubbling, hissing or squealing noises – these usually are mostly noises made by gases or liquids under high pressure. That’s why your compressor is the first place to look if these happen.
  • Banging or rattling will suggest that there is a loose part somewhere in your air conditioner.
  • Buzzing usually means there is something wrong with your fan. It can be wiring or its motor.
  • Clicking definitely means that your thermostat needs checking.

3. What Causes an Air Con to Leak Water?

There can be several reasons:

  • The most common problem is blocked drainage from the condenser. If it is dirty and clogged, the water will overflow and find a way to leak. The solution is to unclog the drains.
  • Dirty filters that cause evaporator freezing. Once that happens the evaporator freezes and then melts due to high temperatures. Clean and replace the filters.

     

  • The overflow pan is full. This pan is used to catch any condensation that turned into liquid. If it overflows, the pan can start leaking.

As you can see, all of these issues are minor and they are solved by regular maintenance, mostly cleaning the filters.

4. Why the Air Conditioner Is Not Cooling?

We have already covered the possible causes of your air conditioner not blowing enough air. However, if the fan is working properly and the air is there, just not cool. That happens for different reasons.

  • Malfunctioning thermostat. This part of your air conditioner should sense when your room reaches the temperature that needs to be lowered. It then triggers the process of cooling. However, if it doesn’t work well it doesn’t sense the temperature right and “forgets” to start the cooling process.
  • Malfunctioning control board. The control board is the part that measures the temperature of the cooled air. If it doesn’t work it may mean that the CB simply doesn’t “realise” your air is not cool enough.
  • Broken capacitor. If the capacitor isn’t working, it means that it will fail to start the compressor. This means that the air will be lead through the entire system, but the refrigerant won’t be there to cool it down.

5. Why Did My Air Conditioner Stop Working?

Obviously, when your air conditioner isn’t working at all, there has to be an issue regarding electricity. This can be due to a blown fuse or a tripped circuit breaker. Sometimes, it is simply a matter of the little things that slip your mind. Stuff like, the air conditioning is not plugged in or the thermostat is accidentally set on a very high temperature.

The key to the long lasting and good air conditioning system is regular servicing and maintenance. Some of it requires a servicer and some of it can be done by yourself.

These are all some common malfunctions that can set you back a couple of hundred dollars in air con repair money. Your air conditioner services will probably charge you by the hour, plus the parts that may need replacing.

Some repairs will last for an hour and some will last for several hours. It depends on the malfunction. However, you can always expect for the repair to be charged at least as one working hour.

You should talk to your servicer and ask them about their policy for additional repairs if the problem happens again within a month. Ask them if they will charge you again for the full price or are there some benefits.

Also, if you agree to use the same person or a company as your go-to servicing place, discuss possible discounts with them.

Be prepared for an additional charge if you are requesting to get your air conditioning system to be repaired the same day. This is rarely possible as servicers are usually booked days in advance. Dropping everything and coming to your home means additional charge.

Lastly, but most importantly, negotiate the price. Get quotes from Service Seeking and shop around for the best prices available. Since Service Seeking enables communication between the clients and the servicers, ask them about the discounts, their charging policy and everything else.

We get jobs done. Get quotes from over 130,000 local businesses across Australia on ServiceSeeking.com.au.
 

There are lots of local air conditioning services that can provide you with top-notch services. Take a look at ServiceSeeking.com.au’s highest-rated air conditioning specialists in these major cities:

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