HVAC Repair in Winona, 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 Winona County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat, three of cooling, and long stretches at 11 below zero
Your furnace in Winona County works from October through May. That is most of the year, and on the coldest nights, when the temperature drops to an average of 11°F, it runs long and often to keep up. Each cycle means the igniter lights the burner again, and the blower motor kicks on again. That kind of repeated use is what wears an igniter down or tires out a blower motor before its time.
Summer is shorter here, June through August, with afternoons around 80°F. That is enough for the air conditioner to earn its keep, but the bigger risk in this county comes from the weather itself. Winona County has seen 30 winter storms and 63 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms like that knock out power. When the power drops and comes back, most furnaces and air conditioners restart on their own. Gas furnaces with a standing pilot do not need power to keep the pilot lit, but the blower still needs electricity to move the air.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 11°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 Winona County home.
Estimates for a typical Winona 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 state list of HVAC contractors and runs no exam for them. Nothing is filed with the state and nothing is tested by the state, so there is no license number to check and no state record showing who did the work in your home.
For a repair on a heating and cooling system, that means the state itself is not the thing standing behind the work. Minnesota leaves this job without a state credential of any kind, tested or on file.
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 set above room temperature, and check whether the display is blank, which points to a dead battery or tripped breaker. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel and any furnace switch, often a light switch near the unit, to make sure both are on. A furnace that turns on and then shuts off within a minute or two usually has a safety switch stopping it, and at 11°F outside that is not something to leave for long. A licensed contractor can find which safety is tripping it and why.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the filter first. A clogged filter chokes off airflow across the indoor coil, and when that happens the coil can freeze over and stop cooling the air at all. Next check that every supply vent in the house is open, since closed vents make the system work harder without moving more cold air. Outside, make sure the condenser fan is actually spinning and the unit is not buried in leaves or grass clippings, since it needs open airflow to dump heat. If the filter is clean, the vents are open, and the outdoor unit looks clear, the system likely needs a contractor to check refrigerant level or the coil itself.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings, the batteries in it, and the breaker for the system before anything else. Look at the filter and replace it if it is visibly dirty, since a blocked filter causes both heating and cooling problems. If the outdoor unit is not running, make sure nothing is blocking it and that the disconnect switch nearby, often a small gray box on the wall, is pushed in. Write down what you notice, like a smell, a sound, or how long the system runs before it stops, since that detail helps a contractor diagnose the problem faster once they arrive.