HVAC Repair in Chesapeake, VA
Homes here need heat from November through April and cooling from May through September. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Chesapeake will get in touch.
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Eleven months of work a year in Chesapeake
Your system in Chesapeake gets almost no rest. Heat runs November through April. Cooling takes over for May through September. That covers eleven of the months homes here need one or the other.
Winter nights average 33°F, so the heat runs long stretches to keep up. Summer afternoons average 87°F, which pushes the compressor hard the other way. More than half the homes here heat with electricity, so when that system falters there is no backup burner to lean on. Chesapeake has also seen 58 damaging wind events and 8 winter storms over the past ten years, and in 2024, 22% of Virginia households lost power for at least a day. When the power drops, an electric heat pump stops with it, and the house loses heat fast.
- 6 months
- November through April, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 33°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Board for Contractors tests and licenses the contractor, not the job itself, so one license covers everything that contractor takes on, from a small repair to a full install. Work under $1,000 falls outside that requirement, so a small fix may not need a licensed contractor at all.
A repair to a heating and cooling system is the kind of job the license is meant to cover, since it goes beyond a small fix and puts the state's testing and record behind whoever does the work. That record is what stands between you and the repair, not a warranty or a guarantee on the outcome, just the fact that the state has tested this contractor and knows who they are.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it is set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, since a setting bumped a degree or two can look like a dead system. Check your breaker panel next, since a tripped breaker will shut a furnace down completely. If the thermostat and power are fine, listen for the furnace trying to start. A furnace that clicks but will not light may have a bad igniter or a flame sensor that needs cleaning. One that does not respond at all could be a control board or a safety switch that has shut it off. With winter lows here averaging 33°F, a furnace that stops working needs a contractor out soon rather than later.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check your air filter first. A clogged filter blocks airflow across the indoor coil, and when that happens the coil can ice over and stop cooling the air even though the system is running. Check the outdoor unit too. If the fan is not spinning or the coil is covered in leaves and debris, it cannot release heat the way it needs to. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit looks fine, the system may be low on refrigerant, which usually points to a leak somewhere in the line. That is not something to chase down yourself. With summer afternoons here running near 87°F, a system that is not actually cooling needs a contractor to find out why.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat first, since it is set to heat or cool and the temperature is set where you want it. Check the breaker panel for anything tripped. Check that the filter is not clogged, since restricted airflow can make a working system act like a broken one. For a furnace, make sure the switch on or near the unit is turned on, since it looks like a light switch and gets bumped off during other work in the area. If you have checked these and the system still is not working, a licensed contractor can diagnose what is actually wrong. Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license for this kind of repair work.