HVAC Repair in St. Joseph, MO
Homes here need heat from October through April and cooling from June through September. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Buchanan County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
St. Joseph asks a lot of your system, most of the year
Your furnace runs from October through April here, seven months of the year, and on winter nights that average 21°F it cycles on and off for hours at a time. Every start is a strain on the igniter and the burner. When one of those wears out, the furnace either won't light at all or shuts off before the house warms up.
Summer is shorter but no easier on the system. Afternoons averaging 86°F push the air conditioner to run long stretches to keep up, and that load falls on the compressor and the condenser fan outside. Buchanan County has also seen 72 damaging wind events and 8 winter storms over the past ten years, the kind of weather that knocks branches into outdoor units or cuts power outright. Most furnaces and air conditioners restart on their own once power comes back, but a system already worn from swinging between a 21°F winter and an 86°F summer is more likely to fail right when you need it.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 4 months
- June through September, it cools
- 21°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $230 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Buchanan County home.
Estimates for a typical Buchanan County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Missouri 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.
- 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, and check the batteries if it has a screen that looks dim. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker for the furnace and the switch that looks like a light switch near the unit, since that shuts the furnace off for service and sometimes gets bumped. Gas furnaces will not fire without power even though they burn gas, so a tripped breaker after a storm can leave you with no heat at all. If power and settings check out and the furnace still will not run, it needs a contractor to look at the igniter or the flame sensor.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- A system that runs but does not cool is usually short on airflow or short on refrigerant. Check the filter first. A filter clogged with dust blocks the air the system needs to move, and on an afternoon near 86 degrees that alone can keep a house from cooling down. If the filter is clean, check that the outdoor unit is not blocked by leaves or grass clippings, since it needs open airflow to release heat. If both look fine and the house still is not cooling, the refrigerant charge likely needs a contractor to check it with gauges.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings, the batteries if it uses them, and the filter, since these cause a lot of no-heat and no-cool calls on their own. Check the breaker box and any power switch near the furnace or outdoor unit, especially after a storm, since St. Joseph sees enough wind events that a tripped breaker is worth ruling out. Look at the vents in each room to make sure none are closed or blocked by furniture. If everything checks out and the system still is not working right, a contractor will need to diagnose it further.