Free checklist
AC repair checklist
Safe checks first, then what a good repair visit looks like.
Written by HYRE HVAC Research Desk Primary-source research, data analysis and fact checking
The short version
This AC repair checklist starts with safe checks you can do in minutes, then lists what a technician should test, write down and explain before you approve a repair. A real repair comes with a written diagnosis. A refrigerant top-up with no leak search is not one.
Why start with your own checks?
Many no-cooling calls end at the thermostat, a breaker or a clogged filter. Checking those first can save a visit. It also means that when a technician does come, you can tell them what you already ruled out. Stop at anything that needs a panel opened or a tool on the refrigerant lines.
Before you call
If a breaker trips again, leave it off.
A clogged filter can freeze the coil. See filter intervals.
Switch to fan only or off and let it thaw before the visit.
Many units shut off on a float switch when the drain backs up.
Refrigerant handling needs EPA Section 608 certification. Gas and line-voltage work belong to a licensed contractor.
During the visit
Capacitor, contactor, fan, pressures, airflow.
Refrigerant does not get used up. Low charge means a leak.
Pressures, temperatures, amps. Write them down or ask for a photo.
Before you approve the repair
What failed and how it was tested.
Then decide with the repair or replace calculator.
Ask for time to compare.
After the repair
It helps the next technician.
Questions
What should I check before calling for AC repair?
Is adding refrigerant a repair?
Should I get a second opinion?
How do I compare repair cost to a new unit?
Written and audited by
HYRE HVAC Research Desk
Primary-source research, data analysis and fact checking
We are a research desk, not a sales floor. We read the federal microdata file, the statute or the manufacturer data sheet ourselves, and we publish the figure with the document it came from and the date we retrieved it.
Where a number cannot be traced to a primary source, we publish the shorter page and say what we could not verify.
The counts below are generated from the published pages themselves, last counted October 26, 2026, and they are what we have actually published rather than what we intend to.
- 18
- studies published
- 15
- federal sources read and cited
- 15
- studies published with their full dataset as CSV
- 51
- jurisdictions reproduced against EIA’s own tables
How this desk works
- Primary sources only. Federal data comes from the agency that collects it, in the file that agency publishes. We do not cite an article that cites a source; we download the source and compute the figure ourselves.
- We validate against the agency before we publish. First, we use each federal microdata file to reproduce the agency’s own published tables. Our cooling research reproduces EIA’s state estimates and standard errors for all 51 jurisdictions. That check caught a variance formula that was off by a factor of four.
- Every estimate carries its uncertainty. These are survey figures, not counts. Standard errors are computed from the replicate weights the federal file supplies and printed beside the estimate. An estimate too imprecise to publish is reported as such rather than printed.
- Nothing is typed by hand. Prose, tables and charts all read from one dataset built by script, so a number in a sentence and the same number in the table below it cannot disagree.
- We publish the data, not just the conclusion. 15 of our 18 studies offer the full computed table as a CSV download on the page, so you can check the analysis or disagree with it. A study without a row-level dataset gets no download link and claims none in its structured data.
- We correct in public. Where we have published a figure wrongly we fix the figure, rewrite any analysis that rested on it rather than patching the number underneath it, and leave a dated correction note on the page.
- We do not install or sell HVAC equipment, and we take no payment for placement, ranking or a favorable mention. Nobody buys a position on this site.
Data as of Sources checked October 26, 2026. Authorship on this site is organizational: the analysis belongs to the desk rather than to a named individual, and we do not publish credentials we do not hold. Our editorial policy sets out how we source, date and correct what we publish.
Sources & retrieval dates
Need an AC repair?
Tell us the job and your zip code. Contractor matching is still being built, so this is an inquiry, not a booking or a service call.
HyreHVAC is a publisher. We do not install, repair or inspect HVAC equipment and hold no contractor licence. Nothing here replaces an on-site diagnosis by a licensed contractor. Sources are cited with the date they were checked.