AC Service in Orlando: Tune-Ups, Drain Lines and Storm Preparation

AC service is the work done on an air conditioner that is still running, so that it keeps running. In Orlando the things it prevents are specific: water where it should not be, an indoor coil coated in dust, and a breakdown in the hottest stretch of the year. National Weather Service normals for Orlando International Airport put the average high at 90.8 degrees in June, 92.0 in July and 91.6 in August, with 23.20 inches of rain across those three months.

This page sets out what a service visit should include, the two parts of the system that matter most in this climate, what you can do yourself between visits, when to book, what to ask about a service plan, and how to get a system ready for hurricane season. If your system has already stopped or is leaking, that is a repair, and our page on air conditioning repair in Orlando is the one to read.

Air Conditioning Repair Orlando does not service air conditioners and is not a contractor. It is a referral service: call it, and it connects you with an independent contractor who services air conditioning in Orlando. The contractor carries out the service and sets the price for it.

The checklist a tune-up should cover

ENERGY STAR, the federal efficiency program, publishes a maintenance checklist for a contractor’s yearly check-up. It is a fair yardstick for any tune-up. The left column is ENERGY STAR’s list, and the right column gives the reason, from ENERGY STAR or from University of Florida extension.

On ENERGY STAR’s checklist	Why it is there
Check thermostat settings	University of Florida extension says each degree set below 78 costs up to 8 percent more in cooling, and Orlando cools for most of the year
Tighten electrical connections and measure voltage and current on the motors	Faulty connections can cause unsafe operation and shorten the life of major components
Lubricate moving parts	Parts that lack lubrication cause friction in motors and raise electricity use
Check and inspect the condensate drain	A plugged drain can cause water damage in the house and affect indoor humidity
Check the controls: that the system starts, runs and shuts off properly	A fault found at a check-up is a fault not found on the hottest afternoon of the year
Clean the evaporator and condenser coils	Dirty coils make the system run longer. The university calls dirt on the indoor coil the single most common cause of poor efficiency
Check the refrigerant level	Too much or too little makes the system less efficient. A low reading means a leak to find, not a top-up to repeat every year
Clean and adjust the blower	Airflow problems can reduce a system’s efficiency by up to 15 percent

Four extras worth asking for in Orlando

• A test of the overflow switch, if the system has one. The manufacturer Trane notes that not every air handler does, and that one can be fitted at a maintenance visit.
• A flush of the drain line, not only a look at it.
• The heat, switched on and run. It sits unused for most of the year here, and a service visit is the cheap time to find out that it has failed.
• The readings, in writing. Voltage and current at the motors, the refrigerant readings and whatever else was measured. Numbers from this year make next year’s visit more useful.

A visit that amounts to a new filter and a glance at the outdoor unit is not a tune-up. Ask what is on the list before you book.

The drain line and its safety devices

Every pint of water an air conditioner pulls out of the air has to leave the house. It drips off the indoor coil into a pan and runs through a pipe to a drain outside. Florida’s mechanical code requires that pipe to carry the condensate to an approved place of disposal and to slope toward its outlet by at least one eighth of an inch for every foot of run.

The code also assumes the line will block one day. Wherever an overflow could damage the building, it requires one of four protections:

• A second pan under the unit with its own drain, which must discharge somewhere conspicuous so the occupants notice it
• A separate overflow drain from the unit’s own pan, connected higher than the main drain and also run to a conspicuous point
• A second pan with no drain, fitted with a water-level device that shuts the equipment off before the pan overflows
• A water-level device in the drain line or the unit’s pan that shuts the equipment off when the main drain is blocked

At a service visit, ask the contractor to clear and flush the line, check the pan for rust and cracks, and prove the shut-off works. Carrier, another manufacturer, recommends that drain lines be inspected and cleaned at least once a year, and more often in a humid environment. Ask to be shown the cleanout on your line and what, if anything, you should pour into it between visits, because the answer varies with the pipework and the equipment. The EPA’s mold guidance gives the plain rule for owners: keep the drip pans clean and the drain lines unobstructed and flowing.

The coils and the filter

The indoor coil is where the cooling and the drying happen. University of Florida extension guidance, written for this state, says the coil acts as a magnet for dust because it is constantly wet during the cooling season, that dirt buildup on it is the single most common cause of poor efficiency, and that the outdoor coil must be checked for dirt and cleaned as well.

The filter is the coil’s protection. The same guidance says to check filters monthly during the peak season or as the manufacturer recommends, and ENERGY STAR’s advice is to inspect, clean or change them once a month. In Orlando the peak season is most of the year.

Outdoors, the coil collects whatever the yard sheds. In College Park, where century-old oaks line brick streets, that means leaves. Beside a lawn anywhere in the city it means grass clippings. Salt is a smaller worry here than at the beach: Orlando is about 42 miles inland from the Atlantic, and Carrier, which makes corrosion-resistant units for coastal homes, notes that salt water can be carried as far as two miles inland. Carrier also lists local irrigation systems among the things that corrode an outdoor coil, so if a sprinkler soaks your unit, mention it at the service visit.

Between visits: an owner’s short list

• Check the filter every month while the system is in daily use, and change it when it is dirty.
• Give the outdoor unit room. Keep plants, mulch and stored things back from it.
• Watch for water. Carrier’s advice is to look at the drain line sooner than the yearly check if you notice water around the indoor unit or a slow drain.
• Know where the overflow outlet is, and treat water from it as a message.
• Keep a humidity meter indoors. The EPA says to stay below 60 percent relative humidity. A reading that creeps up over the weeks, with the temperature unchanged, is worth mentioning at the next visit.
• Leave the thermostat alone. University of Florida extension passes on the Department of Energy’s suggestion of 78 degrees or higher and says each degree lower costs up to 8 percent more.
• Notice changes. A new noise, ice on the copper line, a musty smell or a room that has stopped keeping up are all easier to deal with early.

What an owner should not do is open the electrical panels or connect anything to the refrigerant ports. Checking the charge takes a certified technician.

When to book service in Orlando

ENERGY STAR’s advice is to have the cooling system checked in the spring, and it adds that contractors get busy once the hot weather comes. Orlando’s calendar makes the case for the early part of spring. The weather service puts the median start of the wet season at May 27, and the normal highs for June, July and August are all above 90 degrees. A visit in March or April leaves time to fix what it finds.

OUC, the municipal utility, gives a sense of the season: it warns that from June through October its own home energy audits may be booked for up to six weeks.

• Once a year is ENERGY STAR’s baseline for a contractor’s check-up.
• Twice a year is what the manufacturer Trane advises for a heat pump, in the spring and in the fall, since it does the heating as well.
• Before the hurricane season, if nothing else. The season opens on June 1.
• After any long vacancy. University of Florida extension warns that humidity above 70 percent for long periods can lead to mold, so a house closed up through a wet season deserves a look at the coil, the pan and the drain before it is lived in again.

If your system is under a manufacturer’s or an installer’s warranty, read its terms on maintenance. Keep the dated invoices from each service visit in any case.

Service plans: what to ask before you sign

Contractors commonly sell yearly plans, under names such as maintenance agreements or clubs. A plan can be good value if it buys the checklist above. These questions sort a real plan from a discount card.

• How many visits a year, and in which months?
• Is the checklist written down, and does it include cleaning both coils and flushing the drain line, or are those extra?
• Are parts or refrigerant included, discounted or neither?
• What does the plan say about how quickly plan holders are seen when something breaks? Ask for the wording, not the sales line.
• Does it renew automatically, and how do I cancel?
• Does it stay with the house if I sell?
• Will I get the measurements from each visit?

We do not sell plans and we set no prices. The terms are between you and the contractor who offers them.

Getting the system ready for hurricane season

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and peaks on September 10, according to the National Hurricane Center. Orlando is inland, and water can do as much damage here as wind: Hurricane Ian left 13.20 inches of rain at Orlando International Airport in three days in September 2022.

Before the season, at the service visit

• Ask the contractor to check how the outdoor unit is fastened. Florida’s mechanical code requires outdoor equipment to be installed to resist wind pressures.
• Look at the pad. The code calls for equipment at ground level to sit on a level concrete slab or other approved base at least 3 inches above the surrounding grade. Soil and mulch that have built up around the pad take that margin away.
• Get the drain and any overflow switch tested, so the system is ready for days of saturated air after a storm.
• Clear what could fly. Loose pots, furniture and dead branches near the unit are best moved before a storm, not after.

As a storm arrives

• Switch the system off when the power goes. Duke Energy’s storm guidance is to disconnect or turn off nonessential equipment that may start automatically when power is restored, to avoid overloading circuits.
• If water is rising, cut the power. Duke Energy says to turn off power at the breaker panel if rising water threatens the home. Ready.gov says to do it only if it is safe, and not to touch electrical equipment that is wet.
• Run a generator outdoors only. The CDC says never to run one inside a home, basement or garage, or less than 20 feet from any door, window or vent. Duke Energy adds that appliances should be connected directly to the generator, which must not be wired into the breaker box.

Afterwards

Look at the outdoor unit before you switch anything on. If it has moved, if the copper line is kinked, or if the system was flooded, leave it off and treat it as a repair. The CDC’s guidance for a flooded system is to have it checked and cleaned by a professional first. Once the system is confirmed clean and safe to run, the CDC says, you can turn it on and use it to help remove excess moisture from the home. OUC restores power in a set order, from its major infrastructure and critical sites such as hospitals to main lines and finally to damage that affects only a few customers. Where the connection at the house itself is damaged, OUC requires an electrician’s repair and an inspection first.

Renters, landlords and condominiums

The Census Bureau’s figures for 2020 to 2024 put Orlando’s owner-occupancy rate at 39.5 percent, so most households here live with a system someone else owns. If you rent, the lease is where to find out whose job the filter is. Service on the equipment is the owner’s to arrange. If you see water at the indoor unit, or the overflow has started dripping, report it in writing: a cleared drain costs a landlord less than a damaged ceiling.

In a condominium, find out which parts are yours to maintain. Ask the association whether that includes the drain line.

Free checks from your electric utility

A utility audit is not a tune-up, since nobody connects gauges or cleans a coil, but it costs nothing and covers ground a service visit may not.

• OUC customers can book a conservation audit, which is open to renters as well as owners. The specialist looks at the A/C filters and the thermostat and, in single-family homes, at the attic insulation and the central air conditioning ducts.
• Duke Energy customers can take a Home Energy Check online, by phone or in person. Duke makes one a condition of its home improvement rebates.

Service needs a state license too

Florida’s licensing statute lists maintaining a central air conditioning system alongside installing and repairing one, so a company that sells tune-ups needs a state air conditioning or mechanical contractor’s license. Looking that license up takes a few minutes, and our page on choosing an HVAC company in Orlando shows how. For how the whole system fits together, ducts and humidity included, see HVAC in Orlando.

Where in Orlando we connect service calls

Service calls come to us from across the city: College Park, Audubon Park, Baldwin Park, Colonialtown, Delaney Park, Lake Como, Lancaster Park, Dover Shores, Rosemont, Washington Shores, Richmond Heights, Rock Lake, MetroWest, Millenia and Lake Nona among them. Tell the contractor where the air handler is, whether in a closet, the garage or the attic, since that shapes the visit.

Your questions, answered