HVAC Repair in Havre, MT
Homes here need heat from September through June and cooling from July through August. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Hill County will get in touch.
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Ten months of heat, eight below at night
Your furnace in Havre works almost all year. Heat runs from September through June, and on winter nights that average 8°F, it does not get much rest. That kind of cold means long, hard cycles, and the igniter and blower motor take the brunt of it. When one gives out at 8 below, you feel it fast.
Summer is short here, just July and August, with afternoons around 80°F. Your air conditioner does not run long each year, but it still needs to work the moment you switch it on after months sitting idle. Hill County has logged 98 damaging wind events and 17 winter storms over the past ten years, and storms like that knock out power. In 2024, 18% of Montana households lost power for a full day or more. When that happens during a cold snap, a furnace that was already working hard has one more reason to quit.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 2 months
- July through August, it cools
- 8°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 $110 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Hill County home.
Estimates for a typical Hill 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's Department of Labor and Industry issues the license, and tests and records the contractor behind it. That license covers the contractor as a whole, not each job, so it stands behind the person or business rather than the specific repair on your system. Montana also sets a line at $2,500. Work under that amount does not need a licensed contractor.
For a heating and cooling repair, that license is what accounts for who is working on your system once the job crosses $2,500. Below that line, Montana does not require the person doing the work to be licensed.
Source: Montana Legislature
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat and the power to the furnace. If the thermostat screen is blank, check the breaker, and check any switch that looks like a light switch near the furnace, since that shuts off power too. A furnace that runs on gas also needs the pilot lit or the igniter working, and if either fails the furnace will not fire even with power on. At 8°F on a winter night here, this is not one to leave for morning. If the breaker and thermostat check out and it still will not fire, that points to something inside the furnace itself, and a licensed contractor can find it.
- 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 and stop cooling the air even though the system is running. If the filter is clean, check that the outdoor unit is not blocked by anything close around it, since it needs airflow too. If both of those look fine and the house still is not cooling, the system may be low on refrigerant or have a failing part, and that needs a licensed contractor to diagnose.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings and its batteries first, since a dead thermostat can look like a dead system. Check the breaker for the furnace or air conditioner, and check the air filter, since a filter packed with dust will choke either one. If the outdoor unit is not running, make sure nothing is blocking it. Once you have ruled out these simple things, a licensed contractor can diagnose the rest and price the job for your house.