HVAC Repair in Yakima, WA
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 Yakima County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Yakima asks a lot of your system, almost all year
Your furnace is the one doing most of the work here. Heat runs from September through June, and on winter nights that average 24°F it cycles on and off for hours at a time. Every one of those cycles puts a load on the igniter and the blower motor, and after enough winters one of them gives out. Most homes here heat with electricity, so when the power goes, the heat goes with it. That happened to a fifth of households in Washington last year for a full day or more. The storm record backs it up. Yakima County has seen 62 winter storms and 21 damaging wind events over the past ten years.
Summer is short and mild by comparison, with afternoons averaging 78°F through July. But the air conditioner still has to start up after months of sitting idle. A capacitor or a contactor that was already weak from last year often fails right at that first hot stretch. With only about a month of real cooling weather, a system that will not start has a small window to get fixed in before summer is over.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 1 months
- July through July, it cools
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 78°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Washington requires contractors to register with the state.
Registration means the contractor's business is on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. Nobody tested this contractor on HVAC work to get that number, and nobody watched them do a repair before it was issued. It is a record that the business exists, not a mark of skill.
That matters on a job like this because the state itself is not the one vouching for the work. Washington's rule stops at the business record. What happens inside your mechanical room, whether the repair is done right, isn't something the registration checked.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it is set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, since a setting bumped by accident is common. If that is fine, check the breaker for the furnace and, on a gas furnace, make sure the switch that looks like a light switch near the unit is on. Winter nights here drop to 24°F on average, so a furnace that will not start is not something to leave for later. If the thermostat reads correctly and the power is on but you still have no heat, a contractor needs to look at the igniter or the gas valve.
- 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. Check the outdoor unit too, and clear away any leaves or debris packed against it. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear and you still get warm air, the system likely needs a contractor to check the refrigerant charge.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat first, that it is set to the right mode and a temperature that should trigger the system. Check the breaker panel for a tripped breaker, since a reset there solves more no-heat and no-cool calls than people expect. Look at the air filter and replace it if it is gray with dust, since a blocked filter can cause both weak heat and weak cooling. On a gas furnace, check that the switch near the unit is flipped on. If all of that checks out and the system still is not working, a contractor will need to diagnose it directly.