HVAC Repair in San Bernardino, CA
Homes here need heat from November through March and cooling from May through October. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers San Bernardino County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work a year, in heat that hits 99 and cold that drops to 39
Your system barely gets a break here. Cooling runs May through October, then heat takes over from November through March. That is eleven months of the year with the compressor or the burner doing something, and almost no time for either side to just sit idle.
Summer afternoons averaging 99°F push the compressor hard for six straight months, and that kind of load wears on capacitors and fan motors before their time. When winter nights drop to 39°F, the furnace is cycling on and off to keep up, and most homes here run on gas to do it. On top of that, San Bernardino County has logged 89 winter storms and 425 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind and storm damage take down power lines, and statewide, 17% of households lost power for at least 24 hours last year. When the power drops, a gas furnace with an electric igniter or blower will not run even if the gas is on, and it will not come back on by itself once the power returns.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 6 months
- May through October, it cools
- 39°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 99°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $200 a year off heating and cooling for a typical San Bernardino County home.
Estimates for a typical San Bernardino 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.
That license comes from the Contractors State License Board. It covers the contractor as a whole, not each job, so it tells you this person or company holds a state license, not that this particular repair gets checked by anyone after the fact.
For a heating and cooling repair, that license is what stands behind the work. There is no separate state sign-off on this one job beyond it. The contractor's license is the protection California put in place.
Sources: California Legislative Counsel · Contractors State License Board
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it's set to heat and set above the room temperature, since a stray setting is an easy thing to miss. If that's 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 too. On a gas furnace, a pilot light that won't stay lit or an igniter that's failed will stop the heat cold, and that's a repair for a licensed contractor, not something to force back on yourself.
- 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 blow warm air even though the system is running. Next look at the outdoor unit and clear away anything piled against it, leaves, dirt, plants, since it needs open air to release heat. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear, the system may be low on refrigerant, and that needs a licensed contractor to find the leak and recharge it.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings and batteries first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped by accident causes more no-heat and no-cool calls than people expect. Check the breaker box and any power switch near the indoor and outdoor units. Look at the air filter and replace it if it's gray with dust. If the outside unit is covered in leaves or debris, clear the space around it. If you've checked all that and the system still isn't working, a licensed contractor can take it from there.