HVAC Repair in Reading, 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 Berks County will get in touch.
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It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work a year in Berks County
Your system in Reading only gets a short break. Heat runs October through May, then the AC takes over for June through August. That leaves one month, if you're lucky, when neither one has to work.
Winter nights averaging 23°F mean the furnace cycles on and off for hours at a stretch, and every start puts wear on the igniter and the burner. Summer afternoons near 83°F put the same kind of strain on the other side, pushing the compressor hard to keep up. With 20 winter storms and 478 damaging wind events recorded here over the past ten years, the power grid takes hits too. Statewide, 15% of households lost power for a day or more in 2024, and when the power drops mid-cycle, some systems need a hand getting started again.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 23°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 83°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 Berks County home.
Estimates for a typical Berks 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.
Registration puts the business on file with the Bureau of Consumer Protection and nothing more. Nobody tests the contractor's trade knowledge, and the state keeps no record of skill or past work, only that the business registered. Pennsylvania does not let cities or towns layer their own HVAC license on top, so this registration is the only state-level record anywhere in the commonwealth.
For a repair like this, the registration confirms the business exists on paper. It says nothing about who is doing the work on your furnace or your AC unit, and it is not a credential for the person at your house. Whatever protection you have on a gas connection or a refrigerant line comes from somewhere other than this registration, because the registration itself does not reach that far.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, and look at the batteries if it has a screen that's dim or blank. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will shut the furnace down with no warning. Gas furnaces also need power for the igniter and control board, so a furnace with a pilot light out or a breaker tripped will stay cold even though gas is reaching it. If none of that explains it, the igniter, flame sensor, or a safety switch may be the problem, and those need a contractor to check.
- 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 the coil can ice over when that happens, which makes the system run without cooling anything. Next check that the outdoor unit isn't blocked by leaves, grass clippings, or anything piled against it, since it needs open air around it to release heat. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear, the system may be low on refrigerant or have a failing part, and that calls for a contractor with gauges to find out.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings and batteries first, since a wrong setting or dead batteries look exactly like a bigger problem. Check your breaker panel for anything tripped. Look at the air filter and replace it if it's gray or clogged, since restricted airflow causes both heating and cooling complaints. If you have a gas furnace, check that the gas valve is open. Write down anything unusual you noticed, like a smell, a sound, or when the problem started, since that helps a contractor figure out what's wrong faster.