HVAC Repair in Des Moines, IA
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 Polk County will get in touch.
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Eleven months of work a year, in weather that swings hard
Your furnace in Polk County runs from October through May. On the coldest nights, when the temperature drops to 16°F, it cycles on and off for hours, and every start puts wear on the igniter and the burner. Most homes here heat with gas, so that ignition system is doing this work over and over through eight months of winter.
Then summer comes, and for three months your air conditioner has to work against afternoons averaging 83°F. That is a hard swing for one system to cover, and it leaves almost no season where the furnace and the AC both get a rest. On top of that, Polk County has seen 21 winter storms and 191 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms like that knock out power. When the power drops, your system stops, and it needs to come back on and recover once it returns.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 16°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 $120 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Polk County home.
Estimates for a typical Polk County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Iowa 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.
Iowa requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board issues that license. It covers the contractor, not each job, so the same license that got them through the board applies to the repair at your house as much as any other job they take on.
For a heating and cooling repair, that license is the thing standing behind the work. The board keeps the record of who holds it, and that record is the protection this job carries in Iowa.
Sources: Iowa Legislature · Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. If the screen is blank or dim, check the batteries before anything else. If the thermostat is fine, look at the breaker panel. A furnace that keeps tripping its breaker has an electrical problem and needs a contractor, not a reset. If power is good, listen for the furnace trying to start. Some units click and try to ignite several times before locking out. That lockout is the system protecting itself, usually from a flame sensor or igniter that isn't doing its job. At 16°F on a winter night here, a furnace that won't hold heat needs attention 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 a coil that can't move air can't cool the house even though the blower is running. Next check the outdoor unit. If the coil outside is covered in leaves, grass or ice, the system has nowhere to dump the heat it's pulling from your house. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear, the problem is likely low refrigerant, and that's not something to chase yourself. A system low on refrigerant has a leak somewhere in the line, and running it that way for long can damage the compressor.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings and batteries first. Make sure it's set to heat or cool, not just fan, and that the temperature you set is actually different from the room temperature. Check the breaker panel next. A tripped breaker will stop a furnace or air conditioner cold, and it's worth resetting once before assuming the worst. Then look at the air filter. A filter that hasn't been changed in months can choke off airflow and cause problems that look like something bigger. If you've done all three and the system still isn't working right, tell the contractor what you found. It saves them a step and gets you a faster answer.