HVAC Repair in Huntsville, AL
Homes here need heat from October through April and cooling from May through September. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Madison County will get in touch.
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Madison County runs its system almost year round
Heat runs October through April here, seven months. Cooling takes over in May and holds on through September. That leaves the system with almost nothing you could call a break, and with most homes heating on electricity, the same blower and the same wiring carry both jobs all year.
Winter nights averaging 33°F mean the igniter and heat exchanger cycle on and off for months, not weeks. Summer afternoons at 88°F push the compressor and its capacitor hard, day after day, for five straight months. Add in nine winter storms and 431 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and a system already running long hours takes hits it has to recover from. A weak capacitor or a worn igniter tends to give out right after one of those.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 33°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 88°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Alabama licenses HVAC contractors through the state Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors. The license belongs to the contractor, not to the job, so the same license covers this repair that covers any other work that contractor takes on.
For a repair on a heating and cooling system, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. Alabama doesn't license the repair itself. It licenses the contractor once, and that license follows them to this job and every other one.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- Why is my heat not working?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way it should, or the furnace is shutting itself off partway through the start sequence. If you have a gas furnace, check whether the pilot or igniter is lighting at all. If it tries to light and then shuts off, that's usually the flame sensor telling it something is wrong, and it will keep doing that until a contractor looks at it. If you heat with electricity, which most homes here do, a tripped breaker or a bad thermostat wire can look exactly like a dead system. With winter nights averaging 33°F, a furnace that won't stay lit needs attention the same day, not after a few more tries.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- The blower moving air doesn't mean the air is cold, so start by checking the filter. A filter packed with dust blocks airflow across the indoor coil, and when that happens the coil can ice over and stop cooling the air even though the fan keeps running. If the filter is clean, check that the outdoor unit is actually running. A condenser that isn't spinning while the indoor blower is on points to a bad capacitor or a tripped breaker outside. With afternoons here reaching 88°F, a system that runs but doesn't cool is usually a day or two from not running at all.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat batteries and the setting itself. Make sure it's set to heat or cool as needed, not just fan. Check the filter next and replace it if you can't see light through it. Then check your breaker panel for anything tripped, since a furnace, air handler, and outdoor condenser each run on their own breaker. If the outdoor unit lost power in a storm and hasn't come back on, give it a few minutes, most units restart on their own once power is restored. Anything beyond that, a licensed contractor needs to look at it. Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license through the Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors, so ask for that license number before work starts.