HVAC Repair in Mankato, MN
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 Blue Earth County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work a year, in a place that punishes it
Your furnace in Mankato runs from October through May. On winter nights that average 10°F, it cycles on and off all night to hold the house steady, and the burner and igniter take that wear over and over. Most homes here heat with gas, so when the igniter finally fails, the burner won't light at all and the house goes cold fast.
Come June, the same system switches over and runs the other way for three months, with afternoons around 80°F. That change is when a lot of failures show up, because parts that sat still all spring are suddenly working again. Add in the storms this area sees, 36 winter storms and 50 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and the power outages that come with them, and you have a system that has to restart cold more often than most. That is hard on a furnace or an air conditioner even when nothing else is wrong with it.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 10°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80°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 Blue Earth County home.
Estimates for a typical Blue Earth 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 keeps no list of HVAC contractors and runs no test before someone can take this kind of job. There is no state credential behind the name on the truck and no registration filed anywhere that a homeowner could check against. In Blue Earth County, as everywhere else in the state, that decision is left alone.
For a repair like this, that means the protection homeowners in licensed states get simply does not exist here. Nothing about a contractor's training or history is checked or recorded by the state of Minnesota before they work on your heating and cooling system.
Source: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check the batteries if it has a screen that looks dim. If the thermostat looks right, check your breaker panel and any switch near the furnace that may have been bumped off. A furnace that won't start at all often comes down to power or the thermostat, but one that starts and then shuts off is more likely an igniter, a flame sensor, or a safety switch, and that needs a contractor to sort out. At 10°F on a winter night here, this is not one to wait on.
- 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, which means the air coming out feels warm even though the system is running. Check the outdoor unit too. If it is covered in leaves or grass clippings, or the fan is not spinning, that will stop the heat from moving outside where it belongs. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear and you're still not getting cool air, the system is low on refrigerant or has an electrical problem, and that calls for a contractor.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings, the batteries, and the breaker first. These cause more no-heat and no-cool calls than the equipment itself. Next, check the filter. A filter that hasn't been changed in months will choke off airflow and can make a furnace or air conditioner act like something bigger is wrong. Look at the outdoor unit if you have central air, and clear away anything piled against it. If your furnace or air conditioner still isn't working after that, tell the contractor what you checked. It saves time on the visit and helps them get to the actual problem faster.