HVAC Repair in Indianapolis, IN
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 Marion County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Marion County asks a lot of your system, in both directions
Your furnace runs from October through May here, eight months of the year, on nights that average 23°F. That's a long season of the burner lighting and shutting off, over and over, and each cycle puts wear on the igniter. When it finally gives out, the furnace won't light at all and the house goes cold.
Then summer flips the load the other way. Your AC runs June through September against afternoons averaging 83°F, and the compressor is what carries that heat out of the house. Marion County also sees its share of storms, 140 damaging wind events and 12 winter storms over the last ten years, and outages come with them. Most systems restart on their own once power is back, but if yours doesn't, that's worth a call rather than a wait.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 4 months
- June through September, it cools
- 23°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 Marion County home.
Estimates for a typical Marion County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Indiana 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.
In Indiana, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the counties and cities.
Marion County sets its own rule for who can do this work. Indiana has no state HVAC license and does not test or record contractors itself, so there is no statewide license to check. What exists instead is whatever Marion County or the city has on file, and that record only covers contractors working inside that boundary.
Because the license here is local, it is Marion County's own record, not a state one, that stands behind whoever repairs this system. A bad connection on the gas side is the dangerous part of a repair like this. Whether that gets checked by anyone comes down to what Marion County or the city requires for this kind of job, since the state has left that answer to them as well.
Sources: Indiana Department of Workforce Development · State of Indiana
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it's set to heat, not just fan, and that the set temperature is above the room temperature. If that's fine, check the breaker for the furnace and the switch that looks like a light switch near the unit, sometimes it gets bumped off. Gas furnaces also won't run if the pilot or igniter has gone out, and a clogged filter can cause the whole system to shut down to protect itself. At 23°F on a winter night here, this isn't something to leave for later, so if the basics check out and it still won't fire, it's time to call someone.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- The blower could be running while the part that actually cools the air, the outdoor unit, isn't keeping up or has stopped. Check that the outdoor unit is running and not covered in leaves or debris, and check the filter, a clogged one starves the system of airflow and can freeze the coil inside. If the coil ices up, the air coming out will feel warm or barely moving even though the system sounds like it's working. Turning the system off for a few hours to let any ice melt sometimes brings it back, but if it happens again, something needs a real look.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat first, the setting, the batteries, and whether the screen is even lit. Check the breaker box for a tripped breaker and any power switch near the furnace or outdoor unit. Pull the filter and hold it up to a light, if you can't see through it, that alone could be the problem. If the system still won't run right after that, a contractor will need to look at it, and telling them what you already checked helps them get to the real issue faster.