HVAC Repair in Roseville, CA
Homes here need heat from October through May and cooling from July through August. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Placer County will get in touch.
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Ten months of heating or cooling a year
Your furnace has to run from October through May here, eight months of the year. On winter nights averaging 32°F, it's lighting and cycling off for hours at a stretch, and that kind of use wears on the igniter and the flame sensor. When one of them finally gives out, the furnace either won't light or lights and then shuts itself back off.
Summer is short here, just July and August, but afternoons average 84°F and the air conditioner has to catch up fast once it turns on. This area has also seen 449 winter storms and 223 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. If yours doesn't, the problem is with the system, not the outage.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 2 months
- July through August, it cools
- 32°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 $130 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Placer County home.
Estimates for a typical Placer County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, California 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.
California requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Contractors State License Board tests and records the contractor before that license is issued, and the number stays tied to them across every job they take on, not just this one. That license is what tells you the state has a record of who this person is.
For a repair to a heating and cooling system, that license is the thing standing behind the work. It covers the contractor, not the specific job, so the same license is what backs the diagnosis, the parts swapped out, and the work checked when it is done.
Sources: California Legislative Counsel · Contractors State License Board
- Why is my heat not working?
- The most common cause is a furnace that fails to ignite, and that usually comes down to a dirty flame sensor or an igniter that has worn out. Check your thermostat first to make sure it is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature. Next, look at your air filter. A filter clogged with dust can choke off airflow badly enough that the furnace shuts itself down before it overheats. If the filter is clean and the thermostat is set right, the problem is likely inside the furnace itself, and a licensed contractor will need to look at it.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- If air is coming out of the vents but it is not cold, the problem is usually low refrigerant from a leak, a blocked outdoor unit, or a dirty air filter cutting off airflow. Go outside and check that nothing is piled against the outdoor unit, leaves, mulch, anything that blocks air from moving through it. Check the filter too, since a clogged one starves the system of airflow and can make it seem like the air conditioner is not working even when it is. If both of those look fine and the air is still warm, the system likely has a refrigerant leak or a failing part, and that needs a licensed contractor to diagnose.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it is set to the right mode, heat or cool, and that the temperature you want is actually above or below the current room temperature. Check your air filter next and replace it if it looks gray or clogged, since a blocked filter causes problems that look like bigger issues, weak airflow, a system that runs constantly, uneven temperatures room to room. Check the breaker for the system at your electrical panel, since a tripped breaker will stop a furnace or air conditioner cold with no other warning. If the thermostat, filter, and breaker all check out and the system still is not working right, a licensed contractor will need to diagnose it further.