Do You Need Emergency Heating and AC Repair Service? | North Richland Hills, TX
Photo By tommaso79 at istock
If you own a home in North Richland Hills, TX at some point you will probably need emergency heating and AC repair service. The goal of every homeowner is to keep their HVAC system in good shape and avoid needing to call out an HVAC company for repair, but even the best efforts can’t protect against mechanical error. When that occurs you have no choice but to call for help from an HVAC company. However, it can be hard to know if something can wait a few days or needs to be taken care of right away.
No one wants to call for emergency heating and AC repair service if they can help it in North Richland Hills, TX. Most people would prefer to wait until the weekend passes or the morning comes, but in order to do that, you need to make sure that the problem is not going to get any worse in the meantime. With that in mind, it may be time to learn about when you need to call for emergency help and when you can wait. There are some basic guidelines that help you make a more educated decision, but remember that this is just a guide and not a replacement for real advice from a local HVAC company.
If you really don’t know what you should do, the best thing you should do is call a local emergency heating and AC repair service and ask what you should do. Most people don’t rush into emergency service, so if you are inclined to lean in that direction, then there is a good chance that you really do need to get help right away. Over our years of service, we have discovered that most people who trust their gut instinct are right about home repair issues.
With that in mind, keep reading to learn about a few times when you need help from an emergency heating and AC repair service, and a few times when you could probably wait it out until the end of the weekend and then give a local company a call. With any luck whatever issue you are experiencing right now or in the future will fall into the latter group, but if it doesn’t make sure that you reach out immediately to prevent future damages from occurring.
Your HVAC System Quits Working
Waking up to a sweltering home in the middle of a humid Carmel summer or coming home to a cold home in the middle of a blizzard are both situations where you will want to call for emergency heating and AC repair service. If you are dealing with extreme heat then it can be unsafe to wait for AC, especially if you have anyone that suffers from asthma, is an infant, or a senior in your home.
At the same time, you cannot live within heat so losing your furnace in the middle of the winter months also requires a call for emergency heating and AC repair service. Keep in mind that sometimes the repair is not simply because a part needs to be ordered, so if your system is not working you will want to get that piece ordered as soon as possible to get your heat back. This means that waiting a few days and then waiting a few days more may put you without heat for quite some time. Therefore, if you have no heat it is always worth it to call right away to get the process started.
Of course, there are mild periods of weather, so you can consider that if you want to wait until morning to call for help to avoid emergency heating and AC repair service. If the weather is not too cold or too warm, then waiting a few extra hours or a day is not the worst idea. Especially if you can open the windows in your home and get some circulation moving around while you wait for a repair. However, if it is warm and you cannot open your windows or there is very limited circulation in your home, then once again you should look at emergency heating and AC repair service.
Your HVAC System Is Rapid Cycling
Rapid cycling is always a sign of trouble and something that needs to be addressed quickly because it causes damage and it costs you money. For those who may not be familiar with the term, which is often also called short cycling, rapid cycling occurs when your unit is frequently turning on and off. Most likely you are somewhat aware of how often your AC or furnace should be flipping on throughout the day in order to keep the temperature steady. Therefore, if you start to notice that it is flipping on and off more frequently it is a sign that something is off forcing it to work harder than it should.
Sometimes the issue is due to a problem with your thermostat, sometimes the issue is due to an issue with a component. Other times this is an indication that your HVAC system is aging and needs a thorough cleaning and repair or potential replacement. You won’t know why your system is short-cycling until you call an HVAC company and have an inspection done, but time is usually of the essence in this type of situation which is why emergency heating and AC repair service is recommended.
If you wait too long and one piece of your HVAC system is broken then you will end up with a much more expensive repair than what you had planned. This is because the damage is usually cumulative when it comes to an HVAC system. When one part gets worn down then it affects the other parts as well since they have to work harder to compensate. The end result is more wear and tear that will age your HVAC system and force you to replace it sooner than you should have too.
In addition, short-cycling consumes a large amount of electricity which means you could end up paying more in energy bills than you would just call for emergency heating and AC repair service and get the issue resolved quickly. The most energy consumption occurs when your AC or heating system turns on, so if it is constantly turning on throughout the day instead of at even intervals your bill could very well double by the end of the billing period. Therefore, this is really not something that you want to play around with for long.
Odd Noises Coming from the HVAC Unit
Another clear sign that you need to call for emergency heating and AC repair service in North Richland Hills, TX is if you hear any odd noises coming from your HVAC unit. This includes both the indoor and outdoor units of your AC. A lot of people really only notice when there are odd sounds coming from inside of their home, but any odd or loud noises from outside your home near the AC unit are also worth a phone call to an HVAC company because they can signal trouble just as easily.
You cannot expect your AC to work quietly, but you should not hear much more than a gentle hum. You probably know how it sounds on a regular day, so anything that is louder than that is a sign that something is not working correctly. If you really seem to be noticing it running late or start to hear any excessively loud noises then you need to call for emergency heating and AC repair service before your system breaks down and your emergency grows in scale. It is almost always easier to work on a system that is working versus one that is dead.
There are also some loud noises that you never want to hear come from your AC or heating system. For example, squealing noises indicate that a belt is wearing out or close to breaking, so any loud squealing noises need to be immediately investigated. Grinding noises on the other hand often indicate that something is wrong with the motor or the compressor while hissing noises may mean that you have a refrigerant leak which can be very serious. In all of these situations, the best thing you can do is shut off your AC or furnace and then call for help from an emergency heating and AC repair service.
You See Ice on the AC Unit
First of all, it is a pretty rare sight to see ice in North Richland Hills, TX in general unless you are standing by the ice maker on your fridge. Therefore, if you see it anywhere near your AC you should be alarmed. Some people assume that ice is fine since it is coming from the AC unit which is supposed to be cooling things down, but the truth is you should never see anything like ice or water near your AC unit. Both are red flags that need to be addressed right away with emergency heating and AC repair service.
Ice in particular is an issue when you notice that it is forming on the outdoor AC unit, which makes it even more stunning since the hot sun and temperatures should keep this from occurring. If there is ice forming over your compressor unit then this is a clear sign that something is wrong with the evaporator coils on your unit. Chances are there is a buildup of grime or a clogged filter that is causing the refrigerant to leak and the ice to build up. You need to immediately deal with this with the help of an emergency heating and AC repair because the ice buildup will damage your unit if left on there for too long.
You Start to Notice Odd Smells
The bottom line here is that the air that is pushed through your HVAC system should not have any type of smell to it. If you start to notice odd smells wafting out of your vents then you need to investigate what is going on. The truth is that your air ducts are large and often cavernous, which means that all types of things could be going on that you cannot see.
Sometimes dead animals die in your air ducts which can result in some very foul smells while other times grime and debris from rodents can build up leading the droppings to circulate in the air. These types of situations, while being extremely gross, don’t require emergency heating and AC repair service since you will need your air ducts cleaned and most likely the help of an exterminator to prevent the problem from coming back.
However, there are a few smells that do require emergency heating and AC repair services such as the smell of mold or gas. Gas is an obvious problem for many different reasons and is something that you should not play around with. If you notice the smell of gas drifting out of your air vents you need to immediately turn off your HVAC system, leave your home, and wait for the fire department to arrive. You will then need emergency heating and AC repair service to get to the bottom of the leak once the gas is safely off so that you can return to your home.
Mold, while not quite as emergent, also requires emergency heating and AC repair because it can be very dangerous to breathe on a regular basis. Most people don’t realize how easy it is for mold to grow in their air ducts hidden out of sight, but if you start to smell a musty, old smell near your air vents there is a good chance that it is both in your air ducts and circulating around your North Richland Hills, TX home.
If you need emergency heating and AC repair service in North Richland Hills, TX call One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth today.