HVAC Repair in Watertown, 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 Jefferson County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work, most of it in the cold
Your furnace is the one doing most of the work in Jefferson County. Heat is needed from October through May, and on winter nights averaging 15°F it runs long and often to keep up. Every cycle depends on the igniter, and enough cold nights in a row is what finally wears one out.
Summer is short here, just June through August, but afternoons averaging 81°F still put real hours on the air conditioner. A system that sits idle most of the year and then has to perform right away is more likely to show a weak capacitor or a low refrigerant charge the first hot week. And when winter storms knock out power, as they have 18 times in the last ten years here, a furnace that depends on electricity for its blower and ignition won't restart on its own until the power does.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 15°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 Jefferson County home.
Estimates for a typical Jefferson 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.
Wisconsin's rule is a registration, not a license. It puts the contractor's business on file with the Department of Safety and Professional Services. Nobody from the state tests the contractor's HVAC knowledge or checks their work before that registration is issued. Counties and cities in Wisconsin cannot add their own HVAC license on top of this, so the rule works the same way across the whole state.
For a repair on a heating and cooling system, this registration is not what checks the technical work. If the repair touches a gas connection, that is the part of the job where a bad joint or fitting turns into a safety problem, and registration with the state does not include an inspection of that connection. Wisconsin's rule tells you the business is on record. It does not tell you the repair was checked.
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 temperature is set above room temperature, since a setting bumped a degree or two can look like a dead system. If that is fine, check the breaker and the furnace switch, which looks like a regular light switch near the unit. Gas furnaces will not run if the pilot or igniter has failed, and at 15°F on a winter night here, a furnace that will not light needs a contractor the same day.
- 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 without enough airflow the coil can ice over and stop cooling the air even though the blower still runs. If the filter is clean, check that the outdoor unit is running and not covered in leaves or debris. A system that runs constantly but never reaches the set temperature on an 81°F afternoon often means the refrigerant charge is low, and that is not something to add yourself.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings and batteries first, since a dead thermostat battery can shut a system down entirely. Check the breaker panel for a tripped breaker, and check the furnace or air handler for a power switch that may have been bumped off. Look at the air filter and replace it if it is gray or clogged. If the outdoor unit is not running, make sure nothing is blocking it. After a storm, check these before anything else, since Wisconsin homes lose power often enough that a tripped breaker is a common cause. If the system still will not run right after that, a licensed contractor can diagnose it from there.