HVAC Repair in Torrington, CT
Homes here need heat from October through May and cooling from July through August. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Torrington will get in touch.
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Torrington asks a lot of your system, most of the year
Your furnace works October through May here, eight months of the year. On winter nights averaging 17°F, it runs long hours to keep up, and the burner cycles on and off again and again to hold the temperature. Over a Torrington winter, that adds up to a lot of ignitions, and the igniter is usually what gives out first. If your system runs on fuel oil, like more than half the homes in this area, the nozzle and the burner assembly need to stay clean to fire reliably in that kind of cold.
Summer is short here, just July and August, with afternoons around 80°F. Your air conditioner doesn't run as hard as the furnace does, but it still needs to start up correctly on the first hot day and keep going through the season. And when a storm knocks out power, which happens to a fifth of Connecticut households in a given year, a furnace or air conditioner that does not come back on by itself after the power returns will leave you without heat or cooling until someone resets it.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 2 months
- July through August, it cools
- 17°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA 1991–2020 monthly normals
Connecticut requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Department of Consumer Protection issues that license. It covers the contractor, not the job, so the same license applies to this repair and to every other job that contractor takes on.
For a repair to your heating and cooling system in Torrington, that license is what stands behind the work.
Sources: Connecticut General Assembly · Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat, since a dead battery or a setting bumped to cool will stop the furnace before it ever starts. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker and the switch that looks like a light switch near the furnace itself, since that gets knocked off during cleaning or storage more often than you would think. Furnaces built with a standing pilot need that flame lit by hand after any power loss, but most furnaces now use an electronic igniter that relights on its own once power is back. If the furnace runs but nights are still cold, with lows around 17°F here in winter, a contractor can check the igniter and the flame sensor, since either one failing will shut the burner down as a safety measure.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the filter first. A filter clogged with dust blocks airflow across the coil, and when air cannot move past it the coil can ice over, which cuts cooling even though the unit keeps running. Next check the outdoor unit for anything blocking it, like grass clippings or leaves packed against the fins. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear, the system likely needs a contractor to check refrigerant levels or the coil itself, since low refrigerant or a dirty coil will not fix itself and will only get worse in the July and August heat.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat first, the batteries and the setting, since that solves more no-heat and no-cool calls than anything else. Then check the breaker box and any switch near the furnace or outdoor unit that could have been switched off. Look at the filter and replace it if it is gray or clogged, since restricted airflow causes both heating and cooling problems. If the power went out recently, know that most furnaces and air conditioners restart on their own once power returns, so give the system a few minutes before assuming something is broken. Connecticut requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license through the Department of Consumer Protection, so once you do call, ask for that license number.