DreadnoughtServicesHeating & CoolingCall

Residential only

Air conditioning repair & installation for Tacoma and Pierce County homes

Summers around Puget Sound used to be short enough that plenty of houses skipped cooling entirely. That has changed. When a July heat stretch settles over Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, Parkland, Spanaway and University Place, an aging air conditioner that limped through last year tends to quit at the worst possible moment. The owner does the diagnosis himself, explains what he found, and recommends the repair when a repair is the right answer.

What we find on no-cool calls

Central AC diagnostics & repair

Warm air at the registers is a symptom, not a diagnosis. It can be a failed run capacitor or contactor, a tripped high-pressure switch, refrigerant charge that has slowly leaked away, a condensate drain backing up and shutting the system down, a seized condenser fan motor, or a thermostat and control problem that never touched the equipment at all. We measure pressures, temperature split, static pressure and electrical draw before saying anything about replacement.

Coils, airflow and shade

Pacific Northwest yards are hard on outdoor units — fir needles, cottonwood fluff, moss and dense shade plantings pack a condenser coil until it can't reject heat. Indoors, a filter that hasn't moved in two years or undersized return ductwork will starve the evaporator and ice it up. Both look like a dying compressor from the thermostat. Cleaning and correcting airflow is often the actual fix.

Replacement & new installation

When an air conditioner is genuinely done — compressor failure, an obsolete refrigerant, a rusted-through coil on a system well past its service life — we design the replacement around the house. That means load, existing duct capacity and static pressure, electrical service, condensate routing and where the outdoor unit can sit without cooking itself against a south wall. Oversizing is the most common mistake we inherit: it short-cycles, never pulls humidity down, and leaves upstairs bedrooms warm.

Adding cooling to a home that never had it

If your house has ductwork and a furnace, adding a cooling coil and outdoor unit is often straightforward. If it doesn't, a ductless system is usually the better build. Either way we'll tell you which one fits the house rather than defaulting to whatever is easiest to sell.

Worth knowing

Heat pumps and ductless systems cool too

A heat pump is an air conditioner that can also run in reverse. If your existing AC is failing and your furnace is aging alongside it, replacing both with a single heat pump often makes more sense than buying a cooling-only condenser and then facing the heating side again in a couple of years. For homes without ductwork, a ductless mini-split delivers real cooling to the rooms that need it without tearing the house apart. Where a gas furnace is still in good condition, a dual-fuel arrangement keeps it and adds cooling. We'll lay out the options honestly — including staying cooling-only if that's the right call for your budget this year.

Replacement and retrofit pricing follows an on-site evaluation; every home is different, so we don't publish flat prices. Projects that need substantial measurement, calculations and system design may carry a paid design or assessment fee, and eligible design fees may be credited toward the project if Dreadnought performs the installation, subject to the proposal. Permitting is handled as required for the project, and when electrical or other trades are needed we use trusted licensed, bonded and insured subcontractors.

Common questions

Air conditioning questions we hear around Tacoma

My AC is running but not cooling the house — what's going on?

The outdoor unit is usually the place to start. Warm air at the registers can mean a failed run capacitor or contactor, a tripped high-pressure switch, refrigerant charge that has slowly leaked away, a condensate drain backing up and tripping a float switch, or a seized condenser fan motor. Before we say anything about replacement we measure the temperature split across the coil, refrigerant pressures, static pressure and electrical draw — that tells us whether the compressor is actually dead or something cheaper is keeping it from doing its job. If the outdoor unit isn't running at all, check the breaker and the outdoor disconnect first.

Why is my indoor coil freezing up?

An iced evaporator coil almost always points to airflow or charge, not a broken compressor. The most common causes around here are a filter that hasn't been changed, a dirty indoor coil, undersized or restricted return ductwork, or a system that's low on refrigerant. Either way the coil can't absorb heat, so it drops below freezing and builds a block of ice that stops cooling entirely. Turn the cooling off and let it thaw, change the filter, and if it ices up again on a clean filter that's the point to call — we'll figure out whether it's airflow, charge, or a metering problem rather than just guessing.

Should I repair or replace my air conditioner?

It depends on the failure, the age of the unit, and whether the refrigerant is still available. A capacitor, contactor, fan motor, condensate issue or a small leak and recharge is usually worth repairing. A failed compressor on a system past its useful life, an obsolete refrigerant, or a coil rusted through on an older unit usually points toward replacement. You'll get the findings and the realistic options, including what happens if you wait — there's no replacement quota on our side of the table. When replacement makes sense we size the new unit to the house rather than just matching the old one.

Can central AC be added to a home that already has a furnace and ducts?

Often, yes. If the existing ductwork and furnace blower can handle the airflow and the electrical service has room for the outdoor unit, adding a cooling coil above the furnace and a condenser outside is usually straightforward. We still check duct capacity and static pressure before recommending it, because undersized returns and long flex runs are common in Pierce County homes and will starve a new coil the same way they starved the old one. If the ductwork isn't there or isn't adequate, a ductless mini-split is usually the better build.

Does an air conditioner need annual maintenance?

Yes. A spring check before the first hot stretch tends to catch a weak capacitor, a packed condenser coil, a blocked condensate line and low charge before they become a July no-cool call. Pacific Northwest yards are hard on outdoor units — fir needles, cottonwood fluff and moss pack a condenser coil until it can't reject heat — so coil cleaning matters here more than people expect. Maintenance is scheduled work, not emergency service; if you have no cooling right now, call instead of waiting on a form.

Related residential services

No cooling? Call us.

253-314-1936Schedule an Assessment
Call for service · 253-314-1936