HVAC Repair in Janesville, 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 Rock County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work a year, in a county that hits both extremes
Your furnace runs from October through May here, and on the coldest nights, when it's averaging 16 below what most parts are built to shrug off, it's cycling on and off all night to keep up. That kind of run time wears on the igniter and the blower motor first. Then summer flips the load the other way. Three months of afternoons near 81°F push the air conditioner hard right after months of sitting idle, and a capacitor or contactor that was already weak often fails right then.
Rock County also sees real storms, 17 winter storms and 78 damaging wind events over the last ten years. Wind and ice take down power lines, and statewide last year, 18% of households went at least a day without power. When the power comes back, most furnaces and air conditioners restart on their own. If yours doesn't, the problem usually isn't the storm. It's something the storm found.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 16°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $120 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Rock County home.
Estimates for a typical Rock 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.
That registration puts the business on file with the Department of Safety and Professional Services. It does not mean anyone tested the contractor's work or graded their skill. Counties and cities in Wisconsin cannot require their own HVAC license on top of it, so the registration is the only state record behind the name on the van.
For a repair like this, that record does not tell you the gas connections were checked. A bad connection is the dangerous part of a heating and cooling repair, and registration alone does not test for that. Whatever confirms this work was done right will have to come from something other than the state registry.
Sources: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat and the switch on the furnace itself. If the thermostat screen is blank or the fan won't run at all, check the breaker first, since a tripped breaker or blown fuse will stop the whole system cold. If the furnace has power but won't light, the igniter or the flame sensor is often the reason, and neither is something to test yourself. With winter nights here dropping to 16°F on average, a furnace that's out for more than a few hours can let pipes get dangerously cold, so this isn't one to sit on.
- 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 blows air that isn't cold. Next check the outdoor unit. If the fan isn't spinning or the coil is caked with grass clippings and debris, the system can't move heat out of the house no matter how long it runs. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit looks fine, the refrigerant charge is likely low, and that calls for a licensed contractor to check.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings and batteries first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped to the wrong mode causes a lot of no-heat and no-cool calls. Check the breaker panel for a tripped switch and the furnace's own power switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit. Check the air filter and replace it if it's gray or clogged, since restricted airflow causes problems in both winter and summer. If the system still isn't working after that, a licensed contractor registered with Wisconsin's Department of Safety and Professional Services can diagnose what's left.