HVAC Repair in Mitchell, SD
Homes here need heat from October through May and cooling from June through August. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Davison County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work a year, in a place that swings hard
Your furnace is the machine that keeps this house livable, and in Mitchell it works from October to May. On the nights that hit 11°F, it runs long and it runs often, cycling on and off to keep up. Every start puts load on the igniter and the blower motor, and those parts wear faster the more they're asked to fire.
Summer flips the load onto your air conditioner for June through August, with afternoons averaging 84°F. That's a short season but a hard one, and the coil and the compressor take the strain. Davison County has also logged 26 winter storms and 72 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and wind and ice both get at the outdoor unit and the wiring that feeds it. When something gives out here, it's usually one of these parts, and it shows up as a system that won't start, won't keep up, or won't shut off.
- 8 months
- October 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 $100 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Davison County home.
Estimates for a typical Davison County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, South Dakota 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.
In South Dakota, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the cities and towns.
South Dakota does not license HVAC contractors at the state level. Whatever rule applies to this repair comes from the city or town the house sits in, since that is where the decision has been left. Some towns license contractors for this kind of work, others do not. There is no state test and no state record behind the work, only whatever the local government keeps, if it keeps anything at all.
On a heating and cooling repair, the gas connection is the part that matters most, since a bad connection is the dangerous part of the job. Whether anyone checks that connection here depends on the same local rule, because South Dakota leaves the answer to the city or town rather than setting one statewide.
Source: South Dakota Legislature
- Why is my heat not working?
- The first thing to check is the thermostat, then the power to the furnace. If the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is right but nothing is happening, check the breaker and the switch that looks like a light switch near the furnace, sometimes it gets bumped off. A gas furnace also needs the pilot or igniter to light, and if it fails to ignite a few times in a row it will lock out and need a reset. With winter nights here averaging 11°F, a furnace that is not heating needs attention fast, so if a reset does not bring it back, call for repair.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- If the blower is running but the air is not cold, the problem is usually with the outdoor unit or the airflow, not the fan itself. Check the outdoor condenser first, if it is caked with grass clippings or covered in leaves it cannot shed heat and the system struggles. Next check the filter, a clogged filter starves the coil of airflow and can ice it over. If the outdoor unit is clean and the filter is fresh but the air still is not cold, the system likely needs a contractor to check the refrigerant charge.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Start with the thermostat, make sure it is set to the right mode and the batteries are not dead. Check the breaker for the system and, on a furnace, the power switch near the unit. Replace the filter if it looks gray or clogged, a dirty filter causes both heating and cooling problems. If the outdoor unit is involved, clear away anything blocking it. If none of that fixes it, tell the contractor what you checked, it helps them get to the real problem faster.