When Is It Really Time To Call An Emergency Heating And AC Repair Service? | Azle, TX
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If you own a home, then you own an HVAC system. In most homes, the HVAC system is the most expensive appliance in the home, so it makes sense that you want to protect it. Therefore, when something goes wrong the first thing you may want to do is call for emergency heating and AC repair service. However, while everything with your AC and heating may feel like an emergency, not every situation requires emergency heating and AC repair. Some things will be just fine to wait until the morning to explore or even the end of the weekend.
Unsure of what constitutes an emergency heating and AC repair service call? When in doubt you can always make a simple call. While most professional HVAC companies always keep a few guys on-call so that they can offer emergency services, no one wants to get out of bed in the middle of the night or work on the weekend. Therefore, you can count on them telling you the truth. If you don’t know whether it is an emergency or not make the call and ask them. They can help you figure out if it is something that can wait until the weekend or if you should have it taken care of right now.
If they tell you that your HVAC system needs to be inspected immediately, you can go ahead and set up the appointment and prepare for their arrival. If not, you can get some helpful advice from them and schedule your appointment for a better time like the next morning or Monday. When in doubt, just asking will work on most occasions. However, if you prefer to have a handle on what’s going on, the following guide of when you should call for emergency heating and AC repair service and when you can wait might be useful. While the list does not cover every single thing that can go wrong with your HVAC system, it does hit on some of the most common HVAC issues.
AC Quits Working
In some areas of the US, the complete breakdown of an AC is not an emergency. While it is uncomfortable, it is not always an emergency because you can live for a short while without air conditioning, you just may not be happy about it. However, in Azle, TX if your AC breaks down would constitute emergency heating and AC repair service. During the mid-summer months, temperatures reach well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit quite easily and the air is too thick to comfortably breathe. Without AC your home will become practically unlivable and will heat up very quickly. The climate of Texas simply does not lend itself to living without AC, and we understand that which is why if you call us about a broken down AC system we will have repairmen or women out at your home promptly.
Furnace Quits Working
If the absurd weather of this year has proven to Texans, it can and it will get cold in Texas from time to time which is why you need a reliable furnace that you can trust. Even without the crazy weather patterns of this spring, it does cool down considerably in Texas during the winter months. Just because snow is atypical in the state does not mean that it is warm during winter nights. For this reason, if your furnace completely stops working you should call and request emergency heating and AC repair service. There is no reason to suffer when you can potentially get your furnace back in working shape within a few hours.
Anytime You Are Worried About Your Safety
The above two issues are considered times when you should call for emergency heating and AC repair service in order to stay safe, but they are not the only issue that may arise and threaten your safety. There are a lot of safety concerns that can arise with your HVAC system, and you should not be afraid to get help with any of them. If you have any reason to think that something is wrong with your HVAC system that could potentially harm your family then you need to call for emergency heating and AC repairs.
For instance, if you happen to be downstairs and notice a leak around your HVAC system you will want to call and get a service agent out to check it out. There should never be a leak around your HVAC system. Some people mistakenly think that condensate must have built up and caused the system to leak, but this is not really something that happens. If you check your condensate pan and it is not overflowing, then it is time to call for emergency heating and AC repair service.
At this point, there is a very good chance that the leak is probably refrigerant. Refrigerant is highly toxic and is not something that you want to play around with. In addition, if your refrigerant is leaking eventually your HVAC system will run out which means that the air your AC is producing will cease to be cool. This makes it even more important to address in a timely manner. If you suspect your refrigerant is leaking you need to block off the area around the leak so that young children and family pets cannot get to it and then call for emergency heating and AC repair service.
Another thing you don’t want to play around with is natural gas. While natural gas does not have a smell, Azle, TX providers add an additive to it that resembles the smell of sulfur or rotten eggs. If you notice this smell wafting out of your air vents during any time of the year or notice it near your HVAC system you need to turn off the gas and immediately call for emergency heating and AC repair service. Natural gas can be explosive and presents a huge health risk for you and your family. This is not something that you should take lightly and should always be considered an emergency. If you know where your gas shut off main is you can turn it off, but if you don’t gather your family and leave your home until the local fire department, gas utility company, or HVAC tech can get into your home to further investigate.
Smoke and sparks are other issues that you never want to take a “wait and see” approach towards. The old adage that says where there is smoke, there’s fire is very true and could be expanded to say where there are sparks, there will be fire. You don’t want to play around with either of these signs of trouble. If you see any sparks coming from your HVAC system or thermostat or notice any smoke in either area or coming out of your air vents then you need to immediately shut down your HVAC system. As tempting as it may be, don’t turn it back on until someone from an emergency heating and AC repair service has been out to your home to evaluate the issue.
What Doesn’t Qualify as An Emergency Heating and AC Repair Service
Now that you know a few things that qualify as an emergency heating and AC repair service, you may be interested in learning about a few things that definitely don’t. While everyone wants to be first in line when it comes to their heating and AC repairs, some things are not emergencies and during our peak seasons, you may have to wait a day or two for attention. This is certainly not because we don’t value our customers, we truly do.
We want every single customer to feel heard and supported at our HVAC company, however, we also need to keep our emergency technicians free so that they can respond to real emergencies. Our emergency team varies by the day, but also includes at least one or two technicians that are considered “on-call.” We rotate who is on-call but make it a point to make sure that these technicians are never out on calls so that someone is available in the case of a real emergency.
With that in mind, we can’t have these techs fill in for everyday issues like general repairs when the outdoor temperatures in Azle, TX are not threatening. If it is a mild weather period in Texas then there is no rush to get a technician out to your home for immediate general repairs. Instead, it will be okay to wait for a few days, which honestly most homeowners are usually fine with since it may save them a dollar or two.
Other things that are not emergencies include routine maintenance and air filter cleaning. While we highly recommend that every single one of our Azle, TX clients book an annual maintenance visit to help lower their energy bills and prolong the lifespan of their HVAC system, maintenance is not an emergency. It’s actually a good idea to schedule your maintenance visit a few months in advance so that you can count on it and be sure you have a slot on our schedule before peak season.
Finally, the last item on the list is installations, which can be tricky depending on the month and the type of installation. While a general installation does not require emergency heating and AC repair service, in certain circumstances it may. If you are proactively replacing your HVAC system and your furnace and AC are both still working, then you don’t need to consider your new installation an emergency. However, if you are installing a new system because one component is not working and the weather is harsh then it could be an emergency. Even more so if our team is following up after an initial emergency heating and AC repair service.
Quick Checks You Can Do Before Calling for an Emergency Heating and AC Repair Service
No one wants to be without heat or AC or find themselves in a situation where they may need to call for emergency heating and AC repair service. Therefore, if you find yourself facing a potential disaster it may be helpful to take a deep breath and check a few things first. Sometimes your problem may have a simple solution, other times calling an HVAC tech might be the only solution, but you won’t know until you try.
If your AC or heat is not working, one easy thing you can do is check your thermostat. We have had cases where customers have been sure their HVAC system failed only to find the thermostat setting got changed somehow. Another thing you can do is check the circuit breaker. It is not uncommon for a circuit breaker to be tripped by an HVAC system that will effectively shut it down. If you fix the tripped circuit then your HVAC power should be restored and the problem eliminated. However, if the unit immediately trips the circuit again for a second or third time then it’s time for emergency heating and AC repair service.
Finally, if you notice that your AC has a buildup of ice that you can visibly see, try turning off the AC unit for a few hours to see if that fixes the problem. Once the ice around the fan melts there is a good chance that your AC will once again fire up and work correctly. If it doesn’t, then there is probably a larger issue at play which means you need to schedule emergency heating and AC repair service.
Looking for someone to help you with your heating and cooling needs? One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth has been serving the Azle, TX region for years and offers emergency heating and AC repair service on demand.