Local AC maintenance workers see spike in calls ahead of expected summer weather

It won’t technically turn into a heat wave in Boston. But this promises to be the first time in 2024 that warmth will arrive — and stick around for a while. Boston 25 Meteorologist Shiri Spear expects a stretch of summery weather Tuesday through Thursday.

“It’s going to be our first stretch of solid ‘80s in the Boston area,” said Boston 25 Meteorologist Shiri Spear. “And we haven’t had that this season.”

In fact, we are overdue for the first 80-degree day. Last year it happened early in May, the year before, in April. So there’s been almost no need for air conditioner use so far this spring. That will change once the warm-front arrives — and they are already feeling the heat, so to speak, at HVAC repair and installation firm Trust 1 Services in Quincy.

“We’ve seen in the last month a huge uptick in AC calls,” said technician Matt Patchell. “A lot of people are going with preemptive fixes because they don’t want to be hot.”

Actually, Patchell said pre-season AC maintenance can spot sometimes expensive problems that may have developed over the winter — such as blocked drains or leaks.

“That can cause an extreme amount of water damage if you have a unit in the attic,” he said.

Regular maintenance of air conditioning means changing out filters, cleaning coils and checking the outdoor condenser units for rodent damage. That, Patchell said, can result in permanent damage to the unit if it’s activated before a repair.

One item some homeowners may overlook for their air conditioning systems is a surge protector. Patchell said that’s a mistake because they can save thousands in repairs.

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