HVAC Repair in Suffolk, VA
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 Suffolk will get in touch.
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Suffolk asks your system to run almost year round
Heat runs October through April here, then cooling takes over for May through September. That leaves your system idle only a few weeks a year, and the parts that start it up, the igniter, the capacitor, the contactor, wear with every cycle rather than with age alone.
Winter nights average 32°F, cold enough that the furnace runs long stretches after dark. Summer afternoons average 87°F, and a system pushing against that heat all day puts real load on the compressor and the fan motor. More than half the homes here heat with electricity, so when a storm knocks out power, the heat goes with it. Suffolk has seen 45 damaging wind events and 7 winter storms over the past ten years, and statewide, better than one in five households lost power for a full day or more in 2024. When the power comes back, most systems restart on their own, but if something was already close to failing, that restart is when it shows.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 32°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 license is held by the contractor, not issued job by job. It covers the company itself, tested and on record with the Board for Contractors, rather than being checked for each project it takes on. Work under $1,000 in Virginia falls outside that requirement and can be done without a licensed contractor.
A bad gas connection is the dangerous part of a repair like this, and in Virginia, the license through the Board for Contractors is what stands behind the person doing that work.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it is set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, and check the batteries if it has a screen that looks dim. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel for a tripped breaker, since a furnace or heat pump that lost power will not respond to anything else. If power is on and the thermostat is calling for heat but nothing happens, the igniter, a flame sensor, or a safety switch on the furnace could be the problem, and those need a contractor to diagnose. Over half the homes here heat with electricity, so a tripped breaker or a blown fuse at an outdoor unit is worth checking before anything else.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the air filter first. A filter clogged with dust blocks airflow across the coil, and the system will run without bringing the temperature down. Check that all the supply vents in the house are open, since closing too many forces the system to work against itself. If the filter is clean and the vents are open, the problem is likely inside the unit, either low refrigerant from a leak or a coil that has iced over, and both need a contractor to look at it. Running the system with an iced coil can damage it further, so if you see ice on the outdoor unit or the indoor coil, turn the system off and call for repair rather than letting it keep running.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings and batteries first, since a thermostat set to the wrong mode or with dead batteries looks exactly like a bigger failure. Check the breaker panel for anything tripped, especially after a storm, since Virginia sees enough wind events most years to knock power out for a stretch. Check the air filter and swap it if it is visibly dirty, since a clogged filter causes problems that look like they are coming from somewhere else. Check that outdoor units are clear of leaves, ice, or anything blocking airflow. If all of that checks out and the system still is not working, the problem is inside the equipment, and a licensed contractor will need to diagnose it.