HVAC Repair in Fort Madison, IA
Homes here need heat from October through May and cooling from June through September. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lee County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat, four of cooling, and not much rest between
Your furnace runs from October through May here, and on winter nights averaging 20°F it cycles on and off most of the night to keep the house warm. Every start puts a load on the igniter and the blower motor, and after enough winters one of them quits, usually on the coldest night rather than a mild one.
Then summer flips the load the other way. Afternoons averaging 84°F push your air conditioner hard for four straight months, and the same system that just got through a long winter gets no real break before it has to keep up with the heat. Lee County has also seen 79 damaging wind events and 13 winter storms over the past ten years, and outages follow storms like that. Across Iowa, 15% of households lost power for a full day or more in 2024. When the power drops and comes back, a gas furnace with a standing pilot stays lit through the outage, but most furnaces and air conditioners are electric-start, and yours will need to be reset or checked over if it does not fire back up on its own.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 4 months
- June through September, it cools
- 20°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $110 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Lee County home.
Estimates for a typical Lee 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, and it tests the contractor before granting it. The state keeps the record of who holds one, not the county or the city. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so it stays attached to their name across every repair they take on.
For a repair on your heating and cooling system, that license is what stands behind the work. If gas piping is part of the repair, a bad connection is the dangerous part of the job, and Iowa's license is what puts a tested, recorded contractor on that connection rather than someone working without one.
Sources: Iowa Legislature · Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it is set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, since a setting bumped by accident is more common than people expect. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker for the furnace and, on a gas furnace, make sure the switch that looks like a light switch near the unit has not been turned off. Winter nights here average 20°F, so a furnace that will not start is not something to leave until morning. If power and settings check out and there is still no heat, the igniter, the flame sensor, or the pressure switch may be the problem, and those need a contractor to test.
- 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, which means air moves through the system but comes out warm. Turn the thermostat fan setting to auto rather than on, since running the fan alone without the compressor cycling will feel like moving air with no cooling behind it. If the filter is clean and the vents are open and unblocked, the refrigerant charge or the outdoor unit may be the issue, and that needs a contractor with gauges to check it. Summer afternoons here average 84°F, so a system that runs constantly without cooling the house is worth getting looked at rather than waiting out.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings, the breaker, and the filter before anything else. Make sure the thermostat is set to the right mode and a temperature that should trigger the system, and confirm the breaker for the furnace or air conditioner has not tripped. Pull the filter and hold it up to a light. If you cannot see light through it, replace it, since a blocked filter causes problems that look like bigger failures. On a gas furnace, check that the switch near the unit is on and that the unit is getting fuel. If all of that checks out and the system still is not working right, a contractor will need to diagnose it further.