HVAC Repair in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, MT
If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Deer Lodge County will get in touch.
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Heat that runs all year in Deer Lodge County
Your furnace runs every month here, not just through the winter. Nights average 13°F from December through February, and on those nights the burner is cycling on and off for hours to hold the house at temperature. Each cycle puts wear on the igniter and the parts that keep the flame lit, and when one of them finally gives out, it tends to happen on the coldest night of the week, not a mild one.
Most homes here heat with gas, so the furnace carries the load through a winter that does not let up. Summer afternoons average 71°F, mild enough that the air conditioner asks little of the system, which means the furnace gets almost no rest before the next heating season starts. The county has logged 49 winter storms over the past ten years, and a furnace depends on electricity to run its blower and igniter. When a storm takes the power out along with the cold, the furnace stops until it is back.
- 13°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 71°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $110 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Deer Lodge County home.
Estimates for a typical Deer Lodge County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Montana 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.
Montana requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Montana tested this contractor before handing out that license, and the Department of Labor and Industry keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license covers the next homeowner's repair too. Work under $2,500 falls outside this requirement, so a small job may be done by someone who never went through that process.
For a heating and cooling repair like this one, the license is what stands behind the work, since Montana puts contractors through its own testing rather than leaving the job to a registration or a county rule. That protection holds as long as the job costs $2,500 or more. Below that line, the state's rule does not reach the person doing the work.
Source: Montana Legislature
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat, since a dead battery or a setting bumped to cool will look like a furnace problem. If that checks out, look at the furnace itself. A pilot light or igniter that will not stay lit, a flame sensor covered in residue, or a filter clogged enough to trip the limit switch are the usual reasons a furnace won't run. At 13°F on a winter night here, a furnace that keeps shutting off isn't something to wait out. A licensed contractor can tell you which of these it is and fix it.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- If the blower runs but the air coming out is not cold, the most common cause is a dirty filter or a frozen coil starving the system of airflow. A refrigerant leak will also do this, and that is not something to top off yourself. Since summer afternoons here average 71°F, most homes get by without central air, so if this is happening on one of the hotter days, check the filter first and call for repair if the air still is not cooling.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat first, including the batteries and the mode setting. Then check the filter, since a filter clogged with dust will choke airflow and cause both heating and cooling problems. Look at the breaker for the system too, since a tripped breaker will stop it cold with no other symptoms. If the power went out recently, some systems need to be switched back on rather than restarting on their own. If everything there looks normal and the system still is not working, a licensed contractor can diagnose the rest.