HVAC Repair in Miles City, MT
Homes here need heat from September through May and cooling from June through August. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Custer County will get in touch.
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Nine months of heat, three of cooling, and not much room in between
Your furnace runs from September through May here. On winter nights averaging 11°F, it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch, and every start puts wear on the igniter and the ignition control board. When one of those fails, you find out at night, when it's coldest and the house can't hold heat on its own.
Summer is short but it still counts. Three months of afternoons near 84°F ask a lot of a system that spent nine months heating instead of cooling. Custer County has seen 17 winter storms and 94 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms like that knock out power. Most furnaces and air conditioners come back on by themselves once power returns, but if yours doesn't, that's worth a call.
- 9 months
- September through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 11°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 84°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 Custer County home.
Estimates for a typical Custer 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 licenses HVAC contractors through the Department of Labor and Industry. The state tests and records the contractor, not the job, so the license follows the business rather than any single repair.
For a heating and cooling repair, that license is what stands behind the person working in your home. Montana sets one exception worth knowing. Work under $2,500 does not need a licensed contractor.
Source: Montana Legislature
- 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 furnace. If that is not it, check the breaker for the furnace and the switch that looks like a light switch near the unit, since that shuts it off for service and is easy to bump. A gas furnace with a standing pilot will not run if the pilot light is out. At 11 degrees on a winter night here, a furnace that will not start is worth calling in fast, since a home cools down quickly at that temperature.
- 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 without enough airflow the system can freeze up and stop cooling even though it keeps running. Look at the outdoor unit too, and clear away any leaves, grass clippings or debris packed against it. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear, the system may be low on refrigerant or have a failing part, and that calls for a contractor with gauges to find out.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings, the batteries in it if it uses them, and the breaker for the furnace or air conditioner. Check the air filter and replace it if it looks gray or clogged, since a blocked filter causes problems on both the heating and cooling side. Look for a shut-off switch near the indoor unit that may have been switched off. If the outdoor unit is covered in leaves or debris, clear it. Past that, a licensed contractor can find what is actually wrong and price the job for your house.