HVAC Repair in Mount Vernon, WA
If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Skagit County will get in touch.
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Eleven months of heat, barely a month of cooling
Mount Vernon needs heat from September through July. That is eleven months of the burner or heat pump cycling on, off, and on again, night after night. Winter lows average 30°F, cold enough that the system runs long stretches to hold the house steady, and every one of those cycles puts wear on the igniter and the ignition control.
Summer is a different story. Afternoons average just 69°F, so the air conditioner or heat pump barely runs in cooling mode most years. A system that sits idle that long can struggle to start back up when a warm stretch finally calls for it. And when the power drops, as it did for close to a quarter of Washington households at some point in 2024, a furnace or heat pump does not come back on its own the way some parts of the system do. Someone has to reset it before the heat returns.
- 11 months
- September through July, your system heats
- 30°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 69°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
Washington requires contractors to register with the state.
The registration puts the business on file with L&I. Washington asks for a bond and insurance behind it, but nobody tests the contractor on the trade. It tells you the business is registered to operate in the state, not that anyone checked their work on a furnace or heat pump.
For a heating and cooling repair, that registration is what exists here. It is not a license, and it does not stand in for one.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- Why is my heat not working?
- Most often it's the igniter, a flame sensor that needs cleaning, or the thermostat not calling for heat the way it should. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature first. If the furnace runs but no warm air comes out, or it won't start at all, a contractor can test the ignition system and tell you which part failed. With winter nights here averaging 30°F, a furnace that's down for even a night is worth getting looked at quickly.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- If the blower is running but the air isn't cold, check the filter first. A filter clogged with dust chokes off airflow across the coil, and the coil can ice over so the air coming out feels weak instead of cold. If the filter is clean and you still aren't getting cold air, the system may be low on refrigerant or have a coil problem, and that needs a contractor to check with gauges. Also make sure nothing is blocking the outdoor unit, since it needs open air around it to release heat.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it's set to the right mode and the temperature you want is actually above or below the room temperature, whichever applies. Next check the filter and hold it up to the light. If you can't see through it, replace it, since a blocked filter is behind a lot of no-heat and no-cool calls. Check that the breaker for the system hasn't tripped, and if you have a standing pilot light, check that it's still lit. If everything there looks fine and the system still isn't working, that points to something inside the unit a contractor needs to diagnose.