HVAC Repair in Kokomo, IN
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 Howard County will get in touch.
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It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat, three of cooling, and not much rest between
Your furnace in Howard County runs from October through May. On the nights that drop to 21°F, it cycles on and off for hours to keep up, and every cycle puts another load on the igniter and the heat exchanger. By the time spring comes, those parts have been through a winter's worth of starts.
Then your air conditioner takes over for June through August, working against afternoons near 82°F. Most homes here heat with gas, so the switch between the furnace and the AC happens fast, and there is little time in between for a weak part to get noticed before it is asked to work again. The wind that comes through this area matters too. Howard County has seen 51 damaging wind events and 10 winter storms in the past ten years, the kind of weather that knocks out power and puts a strain on a system already working hard to keep the house at temperature.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 21°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 82°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $130 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Howard County home.
Estimates for a typical Howard 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.
Howard County decides whether a license is required for this work, and what it takes to get one, because Indiana leaves that decision to the counties and cities. There is no state HVAC license behind the work here and no state list or board keeping a record of contractors. Whatever rule applies comes from the county or city office covering your address, not from the state.
That means the protection on a repair like this depends on what the local office requires, since Indiana itself sets no licensing standard for the job. Gas connections are the dangerous part of a heating and cooling repair, and where a county or city licenses this work, that office is the one with a record of who is doing it. Where none exists, there is no state record standing behind the repair either.
Sources: Indiana Department of Workforce Development · State of Indiana
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker before you assume the worst. If the thermostat screen is blank, check the breaker panel first, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down. Gas furnaces have an igniter that wears out over time, and when it fails the furnace will run the blower but never light. If you smell gas at any point, leave the house and call the gas company, not a contractor. At 21°F on a winter night here, a furnace that will not fire needs attention the same day, not whenever you get to it.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the air filter first. A filter clogged with dust blocks airflow across the indoor coil, and when that happens the coil can ice over, so the system blows air that never gets cold. Next check the outdoor unit and clear away any leaves, grass clippings, or mulch stacked against it, since it needs open airflow to release heat. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear and you are still getting warm air, the system likely has a refrigerant leak or a failing part, and that needs a contractor to diagnose.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat batteries and the setting itself, since a thermostat set to the wrong mode or with dead batteries can look exactly like a broken system. Check the breaker panel for anything tripped. Check the air filter and replace it if it is gray or clogged, since a dirty filter causes both heating and cooling problems. If the outdoor unit is covered in leaves or debris, clear it. If none of that fixes it, tell the contractor what you checked. It saves time on the visit.