Swore I'd never pay for yearly AC tune ups in Albuquerque, then my July power bill hit $312

Jamie Smith · 2026-09-24T20:00:14.091362+00:00

For years I skipped the yearly AC tune up on my house near Eubank and just ran the thing into the ground, figuring a $90 service visit was money down the drain. Last month my bill jumped to $312 and the house still wouldn't get below 78 by 3pm, so I finally caved and called a guy out. He pulled the panel and showed me the condenser coils, which looked like a carpet of cottonwood fluff and dust, plus a capacitor that was reading way out of spec. He cleaned the coils, swapped the $20 part, and checked the refrigerant, total was $140 out the door. That same week the house hit 73 with the thermostat set at 74, and my next bill came in at $198. So yeah, I flipped on the whole thing and I'm on the yearly plan now. Anybody else in town notice their system losing ground every June, or is it just the cottonwood season that does it?

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Swore I'd never pay for yearly AC tune ups in Albuquerque, then my July power bill hit $312 | Abq Home Maintenance - Talk Freely