The Critical Signs That You Need Emergency Heating And AC Repair Service | North Richland Hills, TX
Like any other electrical appliance, your HVAC unit may have occasional problems. While some of these heating and AC repair issues can wait, others cannot. They have to be addressed by a technician immediately. These form what are called emergency HVAC problems. Emergency home repairs will arise sooner or later. A good number of Americans deal with such issues yearly, with 20% having to do with their HVAC systems.
The HVAC system is a collection of several complicated components that might sometimes fail and cause an emergency. Hence, you should understand how to identify the situations to ensure you can have an emergency heating and AC repair service before placing your North Richland Hills, TX home and family at risk.
What Is a Heating and Air Conditioning Emergency?
It is an HVAC situation that places your family’s safety at risk. However, all HVAC situations aren’t emergencies, although some place your household in immediate danger. Whenever you fear for your safety, call a technician for an inspection of your HVAC system. The outdoor temperatures play a critical role in determining an HVAC problem’s severity. For instance, if the furnace isn’t powered in summer, you can’t wait to have it fixed. But if faced with a similar problem in winter, that should be addressed immediately.
The other factor that could determine whether you need emergency services is the time of the day. For instance, if the problem arises during the day, you don’t need to call an emergency heating and AC repair service. A technician can address it at a slightly lower cost. However, should the HVAC problem arise at night, you might have to call the emergency services.
What Contributes to Frequent HVAC Emergencies
Aging HVAC System
An air conditioner has an average service life of between 10 and 15 years, while a furnace can last for about 15 to 20 years. If the heating and air conditioning system is approaching the end of its lifespan, you might start experiencing frequent HVAC emergencies. Therefore, whenever you reach the 10th anniversary of the AC and 15 -the year mark of the furnace, you should seriously consider your system’s replacement.
HVAC technology has seen a lot of improvements within the last decade. Hence, your subsequent heating and air conditioning system will likely have higher energy efficiency. This means you can recoup the initial purchase price for reduced energy utility bills. Ensure you check the available federal, state, and local energy tax credit options before making the final decision. Otherwise, if you continue using the old HVAC system, you might be forced to regularly call an emergency heating and AC repair service in North Richland Hills, TX, because of frequent breakdowns.
Improper Service or Installation
The other factor that might make you enlist the help of an emergency heating and AC repair service is if the unit wasn’t correctly installed or serviced. For instance, if the professional doesn’t ensure complete combustion or tighten the gas seals could result in carbon monoxide leaks. The improper installation also means installing an improperly-sized HVAC unit. This is because you might experience premature wear out of your HVAC system.
Therefore, ensure that you enlist licensed, experienced, and trained HVAC repair technicians whenever you want your unit fixed or to install a new one. They should recommend a reliable product and also offer guarantees on installations. If the HVAC unit isn’t installed correctly, you might be exposed to issues like gas leaks and carbon monoxide poisoning, which require immediate emergency heating and AC repair services.
Not Having a Preventative Maintenance
The other prevalent reason you might have to call an emergency heating and AC repair service is if you don’t have routine maintenance of your HVAC unit. Homeowners should invest in heating and air conditioning maintenance at least once every year. The HVAC maintenance professionals will thoroughly inspect the air conditioner, fix any developing issues, and clean the filters and ductworks to ensure that your home is effectively cooled.
Ventilation Problems
The common ventilation issues are usually found in the ductworks. The items blocking the air ducts prevent the cooled or heated air from getting distributed properly in your North Richland Hills, TX home. The primary air duct obstructions include fallen or lost insulation and dirt, dirty filters, and dirty coils. The air ducts can also get damaged and leak the conditioned air, which reduces the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the system.
However, your vents might also become clogged. These blockages are usually caused by equipment or furniture standing in front of the vents. It is also worth noting that debris might also cause obstructions in the vents. If the vents are clogged, your home will not be evenly cooled or heated; the unit will have extended cooling and heating cycles and poor indoor air quality.
Long cycles might strain the HVAC system. This causes premature wear and tear of some components and might cause an HVAC emergency. You’ll have to call a professional emergency heating and AC repair service whenever this happens. You could address this with routine heating and air conditioning system maintenance.
Refrigerant Leaks
HVAC systems, particularly AC, use a refrigerant/coolant to absorb the heat from the air and deliver cooled air. Refrigerant lines run between the outdoor compressor and the indoor evaporator units. Any leakage in this line might result in a refrigerant loss that could negatively impact your HVAC system. First, the unit will run longer and more frequently while straining to reach the temperatures you’ve set on the thermostat. The unit may even stop. This also might make the compressor burn out or even overheat. You can notice that you have a refrigerant leak if you notice that:
- Ice is building up on the evaporator coils.
- The system is overrunning.
- There is a buildup of ice on the refrigerant lines.
- The refrigerant lines produce a hissing sound.
- The air leaving the vents is not sufficiently cool.
Refrigerants are toxic both to you and the environment. When inhaled, it can cause refrigerant poisoning, characterized by vision loss, vomiting or diarrhea, difficulty breathing, and severe nose, sinus, and throat pains. Hence, whenever you notice a sweet chloroform-like smell, turn off the HVAC system and immediately call an emergency heating and AC repair service provider.
Furnace Failure
The other reason you might face an HVAC emergency is a furnace failure. During the winter, your North Richland Hills, TX home’s comfort heavily relies on the furnace’s efficiency. If it fails or faulty components, your home might quickly become cold. This takes a toll on you or the other family members and might also affect some parts of the plumbing system.
The water lines might freeze and burst. Further, your family members might develop a common cold, especially the aged and toddlers. Hence, whenever you notice that the furnace has failed or isn’t efficient, call an emergency heating and AC repair service to address the problem urgently.
Common Signs of HVAC Emergencies
Gas Leaks
About 48% of all Americans use natural gas to heat their homes. Any HVAC system that relies on natural gas might develop gas leaks. Gas leaks are the last thing you want to experience at your home for several reasons. First, prolonged exposure to the leaking natural gas might cause poisoning. You might begin experiencing symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, suffocation, or even loss of concentration.
Second, natural gas is flammable. Prolonged leaks increase its concentration at your North Richland Hills, TX home. If there is even a single spark, it will catch fire or even explode. Fires and explosions are probably the deadliest consequences of a gas leak that requires the urgent attention of an emergency heating and AC repair service provider.
But how can you notice there is a gas leak? Natural gas is odorless and colorless. Hence, you cannot see or smell it. Fortunately, gas utility providers add Methyl Mercaptan to natural gas, giving it a rotten egg or sulfuric smell. This makes detecting gas leaks at your home easy. Hence, whenever you notice any sign of a gas leak, immediately call an emergency heating and AC repair service.
HVAC Unit Not Turning On
During hot and cold winters, heating and air conditioning system failures are as urgent as possible. Your family relies on the HVAC system to heat or cool your home and remove any humidity. Imagine the unit failing mid-summer or winter. This means that your indoor temperatures might reach uncomfortable and unsafe levels.
The problem is even more complicated if you have senior citizens, young children, and pets at your North Richland Hills, TX home. Whenever it’s extremely hot or cold outside, your family’s safety depends on the efficient functioning of the HVAC system. If you notice that the heating and air conditioning system doesn’t turn on, you should call an emergency heating and AC repair service provider to look closer.
Unsettling Noises
Since you have been using the HVAC system for some time, you know what sounds it makes whenever it is running. Therefore, if it makes an unusual or uncharacteristic sound, that could be a sign of an underlying issue and a cause to be alarmed. Mainly, if you hear grinding or screeching sounds, you should have an emergency heating and AC repair service.
A blocked air conditioning unit compressor typically produces a screeching sound. A compressor isn’t a cheap component. Because of the obstruction, the pressure will continue building within the unit, producing that unsettling sound. If you hear popping sounds, that might indicate that the electrical components of your HVAC system have a problem. Whenever you notice the odd sounds, turn your HVAC system off and call an emergency heating and AC repair service provider.
Air Isn’t Coming from the Vents
The heating and air conditioning system isn’t doing its job if no air is flowing from your vents. This may be caused by various issues, including the blower motor issues and blockages in the air ducts. However, a malfunctioning blower motor poses a more pressing emergency. This is because the HVAC unit relies on the motor in its air distribution throughout your home. You might notice a burning smell if it is faulty or has failed. Contact a reliable emergency heating and AC repair service provider in North Richland Hills, TX, whenever you notice this smell.
However, the air duct blockages aren’t necessarily an emergency. At times, the problem may be as simple as the vents being blocked by furniture that you might have accidentally caused. Have an HVAC repair technician check if the vents are blocked. Fortunately, this is something the emergency heating and AC repair service will inspect when addressing the blower motor issue.
Musky or Moldy Smell
The other sign of an HVAC emergency is the moldy or musky smell. This is somewhat a nuisance. Although they aren’t an emergency, they point to a more severe issue, mold growth. If mold grows inside the air ducts or the filter, it might breed to levels that require you to replace the air ducts. Mold is caused by sweating within the air ducts and clogs on the air filters.
Mold is a fungus that devastatingly impacts people with pre-existing respiratory conditions like asthma. They also cause sneezing, wheezing, coughing, teary eyes, and other respiratory complications. Therefore, call a reliable emergency heating and AC repair service provider near you to have the air ducts cleaned using antimicrobial foggers. This will reinstate your indoor high air quality.
Prompt Heating and AC Repair Services
Have you noticed either of the signs above? Is your HVAC unit approaching the end of its service life? From unsettling noises to gas leaks, HVAC emergencies have different signs and are caused by various issues. Fortunately, emergency heating and AC repair services can promptly help inspect and address the underlying emergency. Call us at One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth for a reliable emergency heating and AC repair service.