HVAC Repair in Brainerd, MN
Homes here need heat from September through May and cooling from July through August. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Crow Wing County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Nine months of heat, two of cooling, and not much slack
Your furnace in Crow Wing County works from September through May, nine months of the year. On the coldest nights, when the temperature averages 5°F, it fires on and off for hours to hold the house steady. Each cycle puts more wear on the igniter and the ignition control, and those are the parts that tend to fail in the middle of a cold night.
Summer is short here, just July and August, with afternoons around 78°F. Your air conditioner sits idle most of the year and then has to start up reliably the first hot week. A capacitor or contactor that was already weak from last summer is often what gives out first.
Minnesota also sees real winter storms and wind, and a good share of homes lose power for a day or more at some point. Most furnaces and air conditioners restart on their own once power is back. A gas furnace with a standing pilot keeps running through the outage itself. What matters more is what the storm did to the system before the lights came back on.
- 9 months
- September through May, your system heats
- 2 months
- July through August, it cools
- 5°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 78°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $150 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Crow Wing County home.
Estimates for a typical Crow Wing County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Minnesota 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.
Minnesota has no state license for HVAC contractors.
Minnesota does not test HVAC contractors and does not keep a state list of who does this work. There is no license number tied to this trade and no registration behind the business name either. The state simply has no record of who is qualified to repair a heating and cooling system.
That means the protection a homeowner in Crow Wing County would look for in a license number does not exist here for this job. Whatever the contractor can show about their training or their standing has to come from something other than a state record, because Minnesota does not keep one for HVAC work.
Source: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- 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 system. If that is fine, check the breaker for the furnace, and if it is gas, make sure the switch that looks like a light switch near the unit has not been bumped off. Past that, a furnace that will not fire at all usually needs a contractor to test the igniter or flame sensor, since those are not safe or practical to test yourself.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the filter first. A filter clogged with dust blocks airflow across the coil, and the coil can ice over, so the system runs but the air coming out barely feels cool. Go outside and look at the condenser too. If the fan is not spinning or the unit is caked with grass clippings or leaves, it cannot shed heat, and that alone will stop it from cooling. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is running clear, the system likely needs a contractor to check the refrigerant charge.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings, the breaker, and the filter. Those checks take a minute and rule out the simplest causes. Look at the vents around the house too and make sure furniture or rugs are not blocking them, since a blocked vent can make one room feel like the whole system has failed. If everything there checks out and the system still is not heating or cooling, tell the contractor what you found. It narrows down what they need to test first.