AC tune-up and maintenance in Columbia
This Old House prices a tune-up at $65 to $200, averaging $133. Timing matters in Columbia: across 2016-2025, the airport's first 90°F afternoon showed up around June 2, and service calendars fill fast after that.
The technician's list
ENERGY STAR publishes a maintenance checklist for central cooling. The items on it:
- Cleaning both the evaporator coil indoors and the condenser coil outside.
- Verifying refrigerant charge.
- Tightening wiring and reading the voltage and amp draw of each motor.
- Oiling any parts that need it.
- Flushing and checking the condensate drain.
- Testing the thermostat and watching a full start and stop.
Add one request of your own: have the capacitor tested. It is among the parts that fail most often in a Columbia summer and costs little to swap before it quits.
Your part of the job
- Look at the filter every month and change it at least every three, as ENERGY STAR recommends.
- Give the condenser about two feet of clearance on every side, and cut back the shrubs.
- When the cottonwoods finish shedding in early summer, kill the power and rinse the condenser fins with a garden hose. A pressure washer flattens them.
- At the start of the season, pour a cup of water down the condensate drain and make sure it runs out.
A heat pump wants two visits
Since a heat pump works in January as hard as it does in July, book it in spring and again in fall. The fall visit is the one that checks defrost and the backup heat, which matters with roughly 9.8 nights a year at or below 10°F at the airport.
What Boone County homeowners ask us
What does an AC tune-up cost?
This Old House lists $65 to $200, averaging $133. Some companies sell an annual plan covering a spring and a fall visit, so ask exactly what it covers.
When is the right time to service an AC in Columbia?
Spring, ahead of the first hot spell. The airport's first 90 degree day now tends to land in early June, and HVAC schedules tighten once it does.