When the house is still warm at bedtime in July, you want a technician who picks up the phone and arrives with the right part. American Heating and Air Conditioning Service repairs, tunes up and replaces cooling equipment for Oakville homes and businesses, and has done so since 1978.
Call 203-756-5040 and tell us the street, how old the system is and what it is doing. A real person answers, and emergency service runs around the clock. The technician then tests the system instead of guessing, and explains the repair before any work begins.
We start at the thermostat and work outward: airflow across the indoor coil, the outdoor unit and its fan, and the refrigerant level. ENERGY STAR lists the refrigerant level and blower airflow among the items a cooling check-up covers. See the ENERGY STAR checklist.
Water near the furnace or air handler usually points to the condensate line. ENERGY STAR warns that a blocked condensate drain can cause water damage in the house, so we clear the line and look for what clogged it. Read the drain guidance.
A unit that will not start or keeps tripping the breaker has an electrical or motor fault. We meter the capacitor, contactor and motors and replace the part that failed, so you pay for the fault and not for a pile of new parts.
One part has failed, the rest of the system is sound, and the house was staying comfortable before the breakdown. A capacitor, a contactor or a clogged drain line is a short visit, not a reason to start over.
The failures keep coming, the quote for the next repair is large, or some rooms never cool. We put the repair and a replacement side by side on one page so you can compare them before you decide.
Central air cools the whole house through one set of ducts, so the equipment and the ductwork have to be judged together. When one bedroom stays warm while the rest of the house is fine, the cause is often in the distribution, not in the condenser outside.
A replacement is the right moment to check the ducts and the return air. The Department of Energy notes that oversized systems often show more duct leakage because of higher operating duct pressures, so a new system installed on tired ducts can disappoint. Read the DOE right-sizing fact sheet. We walk the house with you, look at the supply and return runs, and tell you plainly what the new equipment can and cannot fix.
Bigger is not better. The Department of Energy says short-cycling in an oversized air conditioner can lead to poor humidity control, and that more starts and stops accelerate wear and tear. It also warns against casual sizing estimates based on floor area or contractor experience, and points to the Manual J load calculation and Manual S equipment selection from the Air Conditioning Contractors of America. DOE: Right-size heating and cooling equipment.
So we measure the house before we name a system: its walls, ceilings, windows and orientation, and the ducts that will carry the air. Your proposal then names the capacity we chose and why.
ENERGY STAR states that no duct work is needed. One or more head units mount on an interior wall or ceiling, and a single outdoor unit serves them. ENERGY STAR: ductless heating and cooling. That makes a mini split a fit for a finished attic, a sunroom, an addition or an older house that never had ducts.
We decide which rooms need their own indoor unit, where the line set can run, where the outdoor unit sits on its pad, and whether the electrical panel can carry the load. Each room gets its own control, so the bedroom can be cool at night while the kitchen stays as it is.
Already have a mini split that has stopped cooling? See our pages on mini split repair and mini split maintenance, or read the full ductless mini split guide.
A heat pump is an air conditioner that can also run backward. ENERGY STAR says that in the summer months a heat pump works just like a standard air conditioner, and that it runs the same cycle in reverse in winter. ENERGY STAR: how does a heat pump work. If your old central air is near the end of its life, a heat pump can replace it and take over some of the heating as well.
Whether one heat pump should carry your whole house depends on the house. We check the cooling and heating loads, the electrical service and where the units can go before we suggest it. For the winter side of the decision, see our Oakville heating page.
ENERGY STAR recommends that a contractor do annual pre-season check-ups, and it suggests booking the cooling system in spring because contractors get busy once summer arrives. ENERGY STAR maintenance checklist. A spring tune up from us follows that list.
Between visits, check the filter every month. ENERGY STAR advises inspecting, cleaning or changing air filters once a month, and says airflow problems can reduce a system’s efficiency by up to 15 percent. Our HVAC maintenance plans put the visit on the calendar for you, and a cooling system inspection is available if you are weighing an older unit.
Six familiar Oakville landmarks, and the air conditioning work we do on the streets around them.
One shop at 1114 Middlebury Road covers all of Oakville, because Oakville is part of the Town of Watertown. For the village’s background and history, see our Oakville HVAC page.
The homes behind this Main Street shop are close together, so quiet condensers and ductless units are a common request when we quote cooling here.
View Salvatore’s Barber Shop on Google Maps
Houses near the Steele Brook Greenway are a good fit for ductless mini splits when an older home has no ductwork to carry central air.
View Steele Brook Greenway on Google Maps
Mixed-use buildings on Main Street often need cooling for a storefront and an apartment upstairs. We size each zone so neither runs short.
View Ro’s Pizza on Google Maps
Sylvan Lake Road homes call us for AC tune ups in the spring and for repairs when the first heat wave arrives.
View The Grand Oak Villa on Google Maps
Businesses and homes along Straits Turnpike get the same AC repair, maintenance and installation as the rest of our service area.
View Straits Turnpike on Google Maps
Buckingham Street homes near the school call us for central air replacements and for mini splits in rooms the ducts never reached.
View John Trumbull Primary School on Google MapsThese are job photos from our own installations, shown at their original size.
Every installation also carries our one-year parts and labor warranty. Ask about financing when we quote.
Call 203-756-5040Look over our financing options before your estimate, and see what a replacement costs in our Connecticut cost breakdown.
I want to start off by saying this company now has a lifetime customer. After having an emergency with our central air unit leaking and calling every company in the truck state area including our previous company of choice, American Heating was the only company that was able to fit us in same day and get the job done at a very reasonable price. We will only use this company going forward for all our heating and cooling needs. Thank you for the quick service.
Nadia and Dimitre D.Yes. We repair central air, ductless mini splits and heat pumps in Oakville. Call 203-756-5040, a real person answers day or night, and the technician arrives knowing the address and what the system is doing.
Yes. A ductless mini split needs no duct work. Indoor head units mount on an interior wall or ceiling, and one outdoor unit serves them. We plan each room, the outdoor pad and the electrical service before we quote.
Yes. In summer a heat pump works just like a standard air conditioner, and the same cycle runs in reverse in winter. We check that the capacity suits your rooms before we recommend one.
In spring, before the cooling season starts. ENERGY STAR recommends an annual pre-season check-up, and spring comes before contractors get busy with summer calls.
No. An oversized system short-cycles, which can leave humidity poorly controlled and adds wear to the equipment. We size from a load calculation of your house, not from its floor area.
Yes. We take $500 off a new system installation, and every installation carries a one-year parts and labor warranty. Ask about financing when we quote.
Watertown has its own pages, including Watertown air conditioning. For anything else, contact us.
Tell us what the system is doing and what you need. Call any hour for an emergency.
Use our easy contact form, email, or give us a call. Our team is ready to assist with your service requests or any questions you might have.
