HVAC Repair in Baraboo, WI
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 Sauk County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work a year wears on a system
Your furnace runs from October through May here, and winter nights average 13 degrees from December through February. That kind of cold means long burner cycles, night after night, and the parts that light the flame take the wear. When an igniter finally gives out, the furnace won't start at all.
Come summer your AC gets three months of afternoons near 80, then shuts down until next year. A system that sits idle that long can struggle to start back up, and a compressor or capacitor that was already weak often fails on the first hot day it's asked to work. Sauk County has seen 61 damaging wind events and 12 winter storms over the last ten years, and either kind of storm can cut power to a furnace or AC that was already due for trouble.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 13°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $130 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Sauk County home.
Estimates for a typical Sauk County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin requires contractors to register with the state.
Registration puts the business on file with the Department of Safety and Professional Services. Nobody at the state tested this contractor's HVAC knowledge to get that record, and no license backs it up. It tells you the business exists on paper, not that the state checked its work.
Since Wisconsin does not license HVAC contractors, no county or city here can require its own license either, so the registration is the only state-level record you have on a repair like this. On a heating and cooling repair, the gas connections are the dangerous part of the job, and Wisconsin's registration rule does not put anyone from the state in the house to check them.
Sources: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it is set to heat and the setting is above room temperature, and check that it has power if it runs on batteries. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel for a tripped breaker. A furnace that lost power partway through a cycle can sit dead until the breaker is reset. Gas furnaces also have a pilot or igniter that can fail on its own, so if power and the thermostat both check out, the problem is likely inside the furnace and needs a contractor to look at it. With winter nights here averaging 13°F, this is not something to leave for long.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- The first thing to check is your air filter. A filter clogged with dust blocks airflow across the coil, and when that happens the coil can ice over and blow warm air even though the system is running. Turn the system off, look at the filter, and replace it if it is dirty. If the filter is clean and you still get warm air, the system may be low on refrigerant or the outdoor unit could be struggling. Either one needs a contractor to check with gauges, not something to diagnose from inside the house.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check your thermostat first. Confirm it is set to the mode you want, the temperature is set correctly, and it has power. Next check your breaker panel for anything tripped, since a reset breaker sometimes gets a system running again on its own. Look at your air filter too, since a dirty filter can choke off airflow and cause problems that look like something bigger. If your outdoor unit is buried in snow or debris, clear the area around it. If none of that fixes it, a contractor will need to look at what is going on inside the equipment.