HVAC Repair in Bristol, PA
Homes here need heat from October through May and cooling from June through August. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Bucks County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work for one system
Your furnace carries the house from October through May, and on the cold nights, the ones near 24°F, it fires again and again to hold the temperature. Each start puts a load on the igniter, and igniters are what fail first. When one goes, the furnace won't light at all.
Then summer turns it around. Three months of afternoons near 84°F push the air conditioner hard right after it's sat unused since spring. A compressor that was fine in May can struggle to start in June. Add in the wind, Bucks County has had 235 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and the outdoor unit takes a beating too, from debris in the coil to a jolt that knocks something loose.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $160 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Bucks County home.
Estimates for a typical Bucks County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Pennsylvania fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when one part has failed.
Replacement makes sense when the furnace's heat exchanger is cracked, the air conditioner's compressor has failed, or repairs keep coming.
Pennsylvania requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the state and nothing more. Pennsylvania does not test HVAC contractors or license them, so there is no trade exam behind the name and no state board tracking complaints against it. Bucks County cannot layer its own license on top, since Pennsylvania does not let cities and towns require one.
So on a repair like this, the registration is not what stands behind the work, because there is no exam or state record of skill behind it either way. Gas repair is the part of this job where a bad connection is dangerous, and Pennsylvania's rule here is a business filing, not a check on whether the work itself was done right.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it's set to heat and the temperature is set above the room temperature, and check that the display isn't blank from dead batteries. If that's fine, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will shut the furnace down completely. Gas furnaces also won't run if the pilot light or igniter has failed, or if the flame sensor is dirty and shutting the burner off as a safety measure. A furnace that runs but blows cold air often has a clogged filter or a blocked vent restricting airflow.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- The blower may be moving air, but something is stopping that air from actually cooling the house. A dirty filter is the most common cause, since it chokes off airflow across the coil until the coil freezes over. Check the outdoor unit too. If the condenser coil is caked with dirt or leaves, or the fan isn't spinning, the system can't reject heat outside no matter how long it runs. Low refrigerant from a leak will also leave you with a running system and warm air, and that one needs a contractor to fix.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat first. Make sure it's on the right mode and set to the right temperature, and put in fresh batteries if it uses them. Next check the breaker panel and any furnace switch that looks like a light switch, since that shuts the whole system off if it's flipped. Look at the filter and replace it if it's gray or clogged, since that alone causes a lot of the no-cooling and weak-heat calls. Outside, clear leaves or debris away from the condenser unit so it can breathe. If you've checked all this and the system still isn't working, a contractor will need to look at it.