AC not cooling

AC not cooling in Oviedo, Florida

If the air conditioner is producing no cool air at all, start with power and airflow: a tripped breaker, a condensate float switch that has shut the system down, or a filter so blocked the coil has frozen. Those three account for most no-cooling calls in Oviedo homes, and two of them are humidity-driven.

Diagnosis

What is most likely wrong

Likely causes, ordered by how often they turn out to be the answer
#	Cause	How common	What it looks like
1	Tripped breaker or pulled disconnect	Very common	Thermostat calls, nothing outside runs at all.
2	Condensate float switch tripped	Very common	Indoor and outdoor units both dead, no fault light. A full pan or a blocked line is behind it.
3	Blocked filter, frozen evaporator coil	Very common	Weak or no airflow at the vents, ice on the copper at the air handler.
4	Failed run capacitor	Common	Condenser hums but the fan does not spin.
5	Failed contactor	Common	Indoor blower runs, outdoor unit never starts, sometimes a buzz.
6	Refrigerant leak	Less common	Gradual loss of cooling over weeks, then none. Oil residue near a fitting.
7	Failed compressor	Less common	Condenser fan runs, the compressor does not, or it trips its overload after a few seconds.

Before you call

What you can safely check yourself

Thermostat set to cool, fan on auto, set below room temperature. Batteries if it takes them.
Both breakers — usually one for the air handler and one for the condenser. Reset a tripped breaker once. If it trips again, stop.
The outdoor disconnect beside the condenser: the pull-out should be fully seated.
The filter. If it is grey and matted, replace it and leave the system off for a few hours if there is any ice.
The condensate drain: a full secondary pan or a wet ceiling stain means the float switch has done its job.
The condenser coil: oak leaves, pollen, mulch and pool-cage debris pack into it. Rinse from the inside out with the power off at the disconnect.

Where the licensed line is

Refrigerant, capacitors and the inside of an electrical panel are not homeowner jobs. A run capacitor holds a lethal voltage after the disconnect is pulled. Refrigerant handling requires EPA Section 608 certification. And in Florida the work itself is regulated: an air conditioning contractor licensed under Chapter 489 may replace, disconnect and reconnect the power wiring at the dedicated disconnect, and repair or replace disconnects, breakers and fuses on dedicated HVAC circuits — s. 489.105(3). Verify any Florida contractor’s licence, including ours, at DBPR Verify a Licensee.

In Oviedo

Why this happens in this housing stock

Two of the top three causes are humidity-driven, and that is not a coincidence in a hot-humid Climate Zone 2A city where 39.4% of homes have a screened pool deck beside the house. The evaporator coil is condensing water for most of nine months, and everything downstream of it — drain line, pan, float switch — is a wear point. Add the organic load from a live-oak canopy the City protects and Live Oak Reserve mandates, and the drain line grows sludge faster here than in a treeless subdivision.

The other local factor is age. The median Oviedo home was built in 1995 and 25.0% of the city in 1970–89. In Alafaya Woods a single undersized central return is common, which makes a dirty filter far more consequential: the system is already near its airflow limit before the filter starts restricting it.

Housing stock: Seminole County Property Appraiser CAMA extract, Parcels.csv dated 5 September 2026. Median build year 1995; 25.0% of parcels built 1970–89; 39.4% with a pool.

Cost

What the fix typically costs

Researched repair ranges for this symptom, 2026
Job	Researched range	Notes
Diagnostic visit, national	$75–$150	This Old House 2026. A competing Oviedo contractor publishes $89, waived with a completed repair.
Drain line clearing	$80–$250	The routine Central Florida call.
Capacitor replacement	$150–$400	Angi puts the average at about $250 fitted.
Contactor or relay	$100–$450	A wear item.
Refrigerant leak repair	$200–$1,500+	Finding the leak is most of the cost; weigh it against the R-410A phase-down.
Compressor replacement	$1,000–$3,000+	The point where replacement gets costed properly.

Read this before you use any number on this page. Every figure here is a researched third-party market range with its source and capture date named beside it. None of them are a contractor’s price and none of them are a quote. They are here so you can sanity-check a quote you have already been given.

Not getting anywhere?

Tell us the symptom, the build year of the house and roughly how old the equipment is. That usually narrows it to two candidates before anyone drives out.

Call (321) 415-3018 Send the address and build year

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