HVAC Repair in Zionsville, 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 Boone County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work, most years
Your furnace and your air conditioner both earn their keep here. Heat runs October through May, eight months. Cooling picks up in June and holds through August. That leaves the system idle maybe a few weeks a year, and the rest of the time something is asking it to work.
Winter nights averaging 21°F mean long, steady burner cycles, night after night, for months at a stretch. That kind of run time wears on an igniter or a flame sensor faster than a mild winter would. Come summer, afternoons near 82°F push the compressor hard on the days you need it most, and a weak capacitor or a low refrigerant charge tends to show itself right then, as air that comes out warm or a system that will not keep up. The area has had its share of winter storms and damaging wind over the past ten years, and in a state where 17% of households went a full day or more without power last year, it is worth knowing your system's habits. A furnace with a standing pilot relights on its own. Most newer systems need someone to reset them by hand once the power is back.
- 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 Boone County home.
Estimates for a typical Boone 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.
Whether a contractor needs a license for this job depends on where the house sits, because Indiana leaves that decision to counties and cities. There is no state HVAC license and no state list to check against. Boone County or the city within it may have its own rule, but that rule does not come from the state.
Without a state license behind this job, the protection here comes from whatever Boone County or its cities require on their own. A furnace repair involves a gas connection, and that is the part of the job where a mistake can hurt someone. What gets checked on that connection, and who checks it, depends on the local rule where the house is, not on anything Indiana sets statewide.
Sources: Indiana Department of Workforce Development · State of Indiana
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it is set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, since a setting bumped a degree or two can look like a dead furnace. If the thermostat is fine, check the breaker for the furnace and the switch that looks like a light switch near the unit, sometimes mounted on or near the furnace itself. Furnaces here run from October through May, so a winter night at 21 degrees will show a problem fast if the igniter or the pilot has failed. If power and settings check out and there is still no heat, that points to something inside the furnace a contractor needs to look at.
- 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 when that happens the coil can ice over so the system runs but pushes out air that is barely cool. Look at the outdoor unit too, since leaves or grass clippings packed against the coil outside do the same thing from the other direction. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear but the house still is not cooling on an 82 degree afternoon, the system likely needs a contractor to check the refrigerant charge or the coil itself.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings, the batteries in it if it uses them, and the breaker for the furnace or air conditioner. Check the air filter and replace it if it is gray or clogged, since restricted airflow causes both heating and cooling problems. For a furnace, look for a switch near the unit that may have been bumped off. For central air, look at the outdoor unit and clear away any leaves or debris packed against it. If everything checks out and the system still is not working, a contractor will need to diagnose it further.