HVAC Repair in Lancaster, PA
Homes here need heat from October through April and cooling from June through August. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lancaster County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months of work, and storms on top of it
Your system in Lancaster County is on the clock most of the year. Heat runs October through April, seven months, and on nights that average 24°F the furnace cycles on and off for hours to keep up. Come June the switch flips and the AC takes over for the three months when afternoons sit near 84°F, pushing the compressor and coil hard in the heat.
That is ten months where something is always running, and Lancaster County has had 16 winter storms and 215 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind and ice bring down power lines, and with over a third of homes here heating with electricity, a furnace that depends on power can go quiet along with the lights. Pennsylvania households lost power for a day or more at a rate of 15% last year alone, which is enough time for pipes to chill and a house to lose its heat right when it's needed most.
- 7 months
- October through April, 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
Pennsylvania requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the state and nothing more. Nobody tested the contractor's gas or refrigerant work to get that number. It only means the business exists and the state knows where to find it. Pennsylvania also does not let cities or townships layer on their own HVAC license, so this registration is the only state record that exists anywhere in Lancaster County.
For a repair to your heating and cooling system, that record is what stands behind the business, not the work itself. No trade exam sits behind the number, so the registration will not tell you whether this contractor does gas or refrigerant work correctly. That has to come from what you know of them directly, since the state's rule stops at the paperwork.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it is set to heat and the set temperature is above the room temperature, since a battery slipping low can reset it without warning. If that is not it, check your breaker panel, because a tripped breaker will cut power to the furnace without any other sign. A furnace that was working fine and now does nothing is often an ignition problem or a safety switch that has shut it down, and that calls for a contractor to find which one.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the air filter first. A filter clogged with dust blocks airflow across the coil, and when that happens the coil can ice over so the system runs but pushes out warm air. Go outside too and make sure the outdoor unit is not buried in leaves or grass clippings, since it needs open airflow to move heat out of the house. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear, the system may be low on refrigerant, and that is a leak only a contractor can find and fix.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings and its batteries, then check the breaker panel for anything tripped. Look at the air filter, since a filter packed with dust is one of the most common reasons a system stops heating or cooling the way it should. If the outdoor unit is part of the system, clear away anything blocking it. Pennsylvania requires HVAC contractors to register with the state's Bureau of Consumer Protection, so when you do call, it is worth asking for that registration before work starts.