Questions only a St. Augustine homeowner would think to ask

Sometimes, if it stayed off. Leave the breaker off, open the cabinet to air it out, and call us for an inspection before anyone restarts it. Motors, boards and insulation that got wet have to be checked individually; a blower that spins up wet often becomes the failure that takes the board with it. An outdoor unit that was submerged is a harder case, and we’ll say so if it is.

A written diagnosis naming the cause, dated photographs, the model and serial numbers, and an itemized estimate for repair or replacement. We provide all of it after the inspection. Take your own photos of the water line and the unit before anything is moved, and keep the FPL outage notice if there was one.

Usually not without the preservation board’s say-so, and often not at all. In the National Register districts, exterior equipment placement goes through review, and the standard answer is a rear or screened side location. We’ll draw the placement, spec the screening and give you what the application needs; we’ve been through the process enough to know what gets approved.

Above the base flood elevation on your property’s elevation certificate, with the disconnect and any line-set penetrations above it too. For much of downtown and Davis Shores that means a platform rather than a pad. It’s a modest add-on during a replacement and a frustrating retrofit afterward.

The air conditioner doesn’t use your water, but the humidity it pulls out of the house carries whatever’s in the air, and homes on hard Floridan-aquifer well water tend to have more mineral dust and more sulfur in circulation. The trap and drain line scale faster, so we flush and treat them at every visit and recommend a float switch so a clog shuts the system down instead of flooding the closet.

Monthly during the season, which is more often than a family home needs, because guests run the system hard with doors open and the beach brings sand in. Put it on the cleaner’s checklist, and have us look at the coil and drain twice a year rather than once.

Cool, not off. Set it in the high 70s, add a humidity-sensing thermostat so it runs for moisture even when the temperature is met, and have someone check the drain line and the air handler closet monthly. A closed-up house with the system off will hit mold-growing humidity by June.

Usually a ductless mini-split system with one outdoor unit feeding several indoor heads, or a high-velocity small-duct system that threads two-inch ducts through closets and chases without tearing the plaster. Which one depends on the floor plan and the attic. Both get the window units out of the openings, which the house and the neighbors will appreciate.

Not if it’s placed with care. The indoor heads sit high on an interior wall and can be chosen in a low-profile style; the line sets run inside or along a rear elevation in a painted chase; the outdoor unit goes where the review board won’t object. We’ve done it on frame houses from the 1880s onward and the results don’t fight the architecture.

No. St. Johns County calls are grouped so a technician already in the area takes the next one, and an agreement customer or a vulnerable household is prioritized regardless of distance. The drive is a fact we state up front, not a reason to push you down the list.

On the beach side, unfortunately, yes. Salt air works on fins, fasteners and cabinet panels, and Vilano and the oceanfront stretches of Anastasia Island are as exposed as anywhere in the state. A fresh-water rinse every few months, a coated coil at replacement time and a placement that isn’t facing the surf all slow it down.

Almost always. The live oaks over the North City streets, Lincolnville and the older neighborhoods shed from February into April, and the coating they leave on an outdoor coil and in a filter chokes airflow enough to look like a failing system. A spring coil cleaning and a fresh filter fix it, which is why our first maintenance visit lands before cooling season.

Not just because of the date. Have it inspected: amp draw on the compressor, condition of the coil and the ductwork, and how the FPL bills have trended. A unit that’s healthy can run several more summers. One that’s working harder each year, or on its second compressor, is a candidate for a planned spring replacement rather than an August emergency.

Your declaration decides, but the common split is that equipment serving only your unit is yours, even when it sits on a shared roof or pad, and anything serving multiple units belongs to the association. We service both and will tell you which you’re calling about before we quote.

For a St. Augustine winter, a heat pump with electric backup strips handles the four or five frost nights a year comfortably and runs the other nine months as your air conditioner. Gas heat makes more sense when the house already has a furnace and ducts in good condition, or when the owner simply prefers it. We’ll price both honestly.