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Bexar County logged 268 hail events between 2015 and 2024. Your condenser sits outside through all of it, and hail dents the fins while wind drives debris straight into the coil. A unit can take that kind of hit and still run, at least for a while, so a bent coil or a cracked fan blade doesn't always announce itself right away. If a storm just came through, it's worth having someone look at the outdoor unit even if the air is still blowing cold.
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A dirty condenser coil makes the compressor work harder to push heat outside.
Keep debris and grass clippings away from the outdoor unit and the compressor lasts longer.
Half the homes in Bexar County were built in 1990 or later. If your house falls on that side of the line, your AC is more likely a newer system than an old one running on borrowed time. That matters when something breaks. A compressor or control board failing on a unit with plenty of working life ahead is usually worth fixing rather than replacing outright. Check what came with the house if you're not sure how old the system is.
March is the month before cooling starts here. Whatever's already wrong with your AC now, April's heat will find it fast, and that first stretch of the season is when weak parts tend to give out under the load. Getting it looked at before then means it's working the day you need it.
Find a contractorAn AC that runs for months straight wears in a particular way. The compressor cycles on and off thousands of times over a season. Every one of those starts puts a small jolt through the capacitor that kicks the compressor into motion. Capacitors weaken gradually. You might hear the outdoor unit humming without starting, or notice the fan spinning slower than it used to, or the system taking a couple tries before it kicks on. Long runtimes also give the refrigerant lines and electrical connections more time to work loose or chafe through. A system that ran fine the first weeks of the season can develop a refrigerant leak or a failing contactor well before it ends. None of this means the machine is worn out. It means the weak points show up under steady load, and they tend to show up later in the season rather than at the start.
Set the thermostat below room temperature and listen for the outdoor unit to kick on. If nothing happens, check the batteries before anything else. Then pull the filter and hold it up to a light. If you can't see through it, swap it out. A clogged filter starves the system of airflow and can make a working AC act like a broken one.
Check the breaker panel if the system won't start at all, since a tripped breaker is a quick fix you can rule out yourself. Look at the outdoor unit for ice on the lines or the coil, and if you see ice, shut the system off and let it thaw rather than running it. Ice on the lines points to a refrigerant or airflow problem that a filter swap won't solve.
Estimates for a typical Bexar County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Texas fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when a part like a capacitor or contactor has failed.
Replacement makes sense when the compressor has failed or the system uses R-22 refrigerant, which is no longer made.
When a tech comes out for a repair, the real question is what else on that unit is close to failing too. A compressor is the expensive part to replace, and one that fails on a system still under warranty is a simple swap. One that fails alongside a coil that's corroding or a capacitor that's already been replaced is a different situation, because fixing the compressor alone doesn't buy much if the next part is already on its way out. Ask the tech what else on the unit looks worn while they're already out there. A straight answer about what's likely to go next is worth more than a quote for the one repair in front of you.
