HVAC Repair in Phoenixville, 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 Chester County will get in touch.
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Ten months of work, Phoenixville winters and summers both push hard
Your furnace runs October through April here, seven months of the year, and on nights that average 25°F it cycles on and off again and again to keep up. Each start puts wear on the igniter and the flame sensor. When one of those parts finally gives out, the burner won't light and the house goes cold.
Come summer your AC has less time to prove itself, just June through August, but afternoons averaging 84°F still push the compressor hard on the days it matters most. Add in the storms this part of Pennsylvania sees, 32 winter storms and 478 damaging wind events over the last ten years, and the power interruptions that come with them, and you've got a system that takes hits from both ends of the year.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 25°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 Chester County home.
Estimates for a typical Chester 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 the number on file confirms the business exists and can be traced, not that anyone checked its work. Chester County and every other municipality in the state are barred from adding their own HVAC license on top of it, so this registration is the only state-level record you get anywhere in Pennsylvania.
For a repair to your heating and cooling system, that registration is what exists here, and it stops at the business being on file. It does not stand in for a trade exam, and it does not mean the work itself was checked by anyone at the state level. In Pennsylvania, that record is the whole of it.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- Why is my heat not working?
- Most often the thermostat is set wrong, a breaker has tripped, or the furnace has locked out after trying to ignite a few times. Gas furnaces will shut themselves down if the igniter or flame sensor cannot get a steady flame, which protects the system but leaves you without heat. Check that the thermostat is set below room temperature and switched to heat, and look at the breaker panel before anything else. If the furnace still will not start after that, it needs a contractor to look at the ignition system.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- If air is coming out of the vents but it is not cold, the problem is usually low refrigerant, a frozen evaporator coil, or a dirty air filter choking off airflow. A clogged filter starves the coil of air and it can ice over, which is why weak or warm airflow often shows up together. Check the filter first since that is the one thing you can rule out yourself. Refrigerant leaks and frozen coils both need a contractor, since refrigerant work is licensed and a coil needs time to thaw before anyone can diagnose it further.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it is set to the right mode and a temperature that should trigger the system to run. Next check the breaker panel for a tripped breaker, since a furnace or air conditioner that will not turn on at all is often just cut off from power. Look at the air filter too. If it is gray with dust, replace it, since restricted airflow causes problems in both summer and winter. If the system runs but something still seems off, a contractor will need to look at it directly.