HVAC Repair in Decatur, IL
Homes here need heat from October through April and cooling from June through September. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Macon County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work, most of it in the cold
Your furnace carries the load here. Heat runs October through April, seven months, and winter nights average 22°F through December, February and the months between. That kind of cold means long burner cycles night after night, and every start puts wear on the igniter and the ignition control. When one of those fails, the burner won't light and the house goes cold fast.
Summer is shorter but the air conditioner still has to work, with afternoons averaging 84°F from June through September. Storms here bring the kind of wind and outages that cut power to a furnace or air conditioner mid-cycle. Most units come back on their own once power returns. If yours doesn't, something else has failed.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 4 months
- June through September, it cools
- 22°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 $150 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Macon County home.
Estimates for a typical Macon County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Illinois 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 Illinois, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the cities and towns.
Macon County does not run its own HVAC licensing program, and Illinois does not either. Whether a contractor needs a local license to do this repair depends on the city or town the house sits in. There is no state list to check and no state exam behind the work, because Illinois never set one up. The rule, whatever it is, comes from the local government, not the state.
That leaves the repair itself as the thing to pay attention to. A furnace or air conditioner repair that touches gas piping or a gas connection is the part that can cause real harm if it is done wrong, and Illinois state law does not put an inspector on this job automatically. Whatever oversight exists here comes from the city or town, not from a state license, because Illinois left that decision to local government.
Source: Illinois General Assembly
- Why is my heat not working?
- The most common reason is the igniter has failed or the flame sensor is dirty, so the furnace tries to start but shuts itself down. A thermostat set wrong or batteries dying can also stop it cold. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and a few degrees above room temperature, and check your breaker panel for a tripped switch. With nights averaging 22°F here in the winter, it is worth getting this looked at quickly rather than waiting.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- A dirty air filter is the first thing to check, since a clogged one chokes off airflow and can freeze the coil. If the filter looks fine, low refrigerant from a leak is a common cause, and that is not something to top off yourself. Check the outdoor unit too. If the fan isn't spinning or the coil is caked with dirt and leaves, it can't shed heat properly no matter how hard it runs.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it's set correctly, the batteries are good, and the display is on. Next check your breaker panel for a tripped breaker and your furnace's own switch, which looks like a regular light switch near the unit. Then pull the air filter and hold it up to a light. If you can't see light through it, replace it. For a furnace, check that the flue and any nearby vents aren't blocked, and for an outdoor AC unit, clear away leaves or debris piled against it. If none of this fixes it, a contractor will need to diagnose the actual problem.