HVAC Repair in Spearfish, SD
Homes here need heat from September through June and cooling from July through July. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lawrence County will get in touch.
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Ten months of heat, one hard month of cooling
Your furnace in Spearfish works from September through June. That is ten months of the year, and on winter nights that average 13°F, it runs long and often. Every start of the burner puts wear on the igniter and the ignition control board. When one of those parts finally gives out, the furnace won't light at all and the house goes cold fast at that temperature.
Lawrence County has logged 105 winter storms and 93 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind that strong can knock a vent hood loose or drive snow into an outdoor unit, and a furnace that keeps running through weather like that leans hard on its blower motor and its inducer motor. Summer asks less of the system here, with afternoons averaging 78°F for about a month, but the air conditioner still needs to be ready when that month comes.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 1 months
- July through July, it cools
- 13°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 78°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 Lawrence County home.
Estimates for a typical Lawrence 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 has no state license for HVAC contractors. The rule instead comes from the city or town where the house sits, so whether this contractor needs a license, and what that license requires, depends on the address, not on any state standard.
For a repair to a heating and cooling system, the gas connections are the part that can hurt someone if they are done wrong. Whether that gets checked depends on the town, since South Dakota itself keeps no record of who is qualified to do this work.
Source: South Dakota Legislature
- Why is my heat not working?
- Most often it comes down to power, gas supply, or ignition. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, then check the breaker for the furnace. If you have a gas furnace, the igniter or flame sensor can fail and stop the burners from lighting even though the blower still runs. With winter nights here averaging 13°F, a furnace that will not fire needs attention quickly, since the house can lose heat fast in that kind of cold.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- The blower moving air does not mean the system is actually cooling it. A dirty air filter cuts off airflow across the indoor coil and can ice it over, so warm air comes out instead of cool. Check the filter first and replace it if it is gray or clogged. If the filter is clean and the air still is not cold, the system may be low on refrigerant or have a failing component, and that needs a 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 and the batteries are not dead. Check the breaker box for a tripped breaker, since a power interruption from a storm can shut a system down without any other sign of trouble. Look at the air filter and replace it if it is dirty. On a furnace, check that the switch on the unit itself, or the nearby light switch that controls it, is turned on. If none of that changes anything, a licensed contractor can find what these steps cannot.