HVAC Repair in Dickinson, ND
Homes here need heat from September through June and cooling from July through August. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Stark County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Dickinson asks a lot of a heating system
Your furnace runs from September through June here, ten months of the year. On winter nights averaging 7°F, it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch to hold the house at temperature. Every start puts a load on the igniter and the blower motor, and in a winter this cold, that wear catches up with older parts. When the igniter finally gives out, the burner won't light at all.
Summer asks less, just July and August, but afternoons near 81°F still push the air conditioner to run long stretches to keep up. Stark County also sees real storms, 23 winter storms and 95 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind like that can knock out power or damage an outdoor condenser unit, and when the power drops, gas furnaces with standing pilots stay lit while ones with electronic ignition need the power back before they will fire again.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 2 months
- July through August, it cools
- 7°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $110 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Stark County home.
Estimates for a typical Stark County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, North Dakota 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.
North Dakota requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license is held by the contractor, not issued job by job. That means the state has tested and keeps a record of the business doing the work, not this particular repair. In North Dakota, work under $4,000 does not need a licensed contractor, so a smaller repair on your system may fall under that line depending on what it ends up costing.
For a repair job at this size, the license itself is what stands behind the work, since North Dakota's rule is built around the contractor holding that license rather than the job needing a separate check. Gas connections are the part of a heating and cooling repair worth the most attention, since a bad connection is where the real danger sits.
Sources: North Dakota Legislative Branch · North Dakota Secretary of State
- Why is my heat not working?
- Most often it's the igniter, a flame sensor that's dirty, or the thermostat calling for heat but not getting through to the furnace. If you have a gas furnace, check whether the pilot or igniter is lighting at all when the thermostat calls for heat. A furnace that starts and then shuts off within a minute is usually tripping a safety switch, and that's not something to keep resetting on your own. At 7 below zero on a winter night here, this isn't one to sit on. Have a licensed contractor look at it.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- If the blower is running but the air isn't cold, check the filter first. A filter clogged with dust chokes airflow and can freeze the coil, and once that happens the system blows warm air until it thaws. Check the outdoor unit too. If the fan out there isn't spinning or the unit is caked in leaves and debris, it can't reject heat and the house won't cool no matter how long it runs. Low refrigerant is another cause, but that's not something you can check yourself. It takes a licensed contractor with gauges to find a leak and recharge the system.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat first. Make sure it's set to heat or cool as needed and the batteries aren't dead, since a blank or unresponsive display is sometimes the whole problem. Check the filter next and replace it if it's gray or clogged. Look at the breaker panel too. A tripped breaker will shut the whole system down and is a two-minute fix if that's all it is. Beyond that, gas valves, refrigerant, and electrical components inside the unit are for a licensed contractor to open up and test.