HVAC Repair in Charlotte, NC
Homes here need heat from October through April and cooling from May through September. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Mecklenburg County will get in touch.
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Mecklenburg County runs its system almost year round
Your heat runs October through April, then your AC takes over for May through September. There is barely a break between them, and each season puts a different strain on the system. Winter nights averaging 32°F mean the furnace cycles on and off through the night, and each start puts wear on the igniter. Summer afternoons near 88°F keep the compressor working hard for hours at a stretch, and that heat is what wears out a capacitor or lets a refrigerant leak turn into a warm house.
More than half of homes here heat with electricity, so a breaker problem or a bad heat strip shows up fast as no heat at all. Mecklenburg County has also seen 122 damaging wind events and 6 winter storms over the past ten years, and a quarter of North Carolina households lost power for at least a day in 2024. When the power comes back, most systems restart on their own, but a surge during that kind of outage can still damage a control board.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 32°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 88°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
North Carolina requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state's Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors tests HVAC contractors before it licenses them, and it keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license that covers an install across town covers the repair at your house.
For a repair on your heating and cooling system, that license is what stands behind the work. It tells you the person doing the job was tested by the state and is on record with the board, not just hired off a truck.
Sources: North Carolina General Assembly · North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors
- Why is my heat not working?
- Most often the thermostat, the igniter, or a safety switch is stopping the system before it can fire. Check the thermostat first. Make sure it is set to heat and the set temperature is above the room temperature, and check the batteries if it has a screen that looks dim. Next check your breaker panel and any switch near the furnace that looks like a light switch, since a tripped breaker or a flipped switch will stop it cold. If the furnace runs but blows cool air, or it won't start at all, a contractor needs to look at the igniter or the flame sensor, since those parts fail more than anything else in the system.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Start with the filter. A clogged filter blocks airflow across the coil, and when that happens the coil can freeze and stop cooling the air even though the blower keeps running. Check the outdoor unit too, since leaves, mulch, or grass clippings packed against the coil will keep it from releasing heat. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear but the air still isn't cold, the system may be low on refrigerant from a leak. That is a repair for a licensed contractor, not something to add to yourself.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat setting and batteries first, since a wrong setting or a dead battery looks exactly like a bigger problem but isn't one. Check your breaker panel for anything tripped, and look for a shutoff switch near the indoor and outdoor units that may have been bumped off. Check the filter and replace it if it's gray or clogged, since restricted airflow causes a lot of the calls that turn out not to be a broken part. If you've checked all of that and the system still isn't heating or cooling, a licensed contractor will need to diagnose it.