HVAC Repair in Grand Rapids, MI
Homes here need heat from October through May and cooling from June through August. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Kent County will get in touch.
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Eleven months of work a year, most homes here need heat or cooling
Your furnace carries the load October through May, eight months, on winter nights that average 19°F. At that temperature the burner cycles on and off for hours at a time, and every start wears on the igniter and the flame sensor. When one of those parts finally gives out, the burner won't light and the house goes cold.
June through August your air conditioner takes over, working against afternoons that average 81°F. Most homes here heat with gas, and a gas furnace still needs power to run its blower and controls. Power here doesn't always stay on. More than a third of Michigan households went at least a day without it in 2024, and this area has seen 15 winter storms and 56 damaging wind events over the past ten years. When the power drops, the furnace stops with it.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 19°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 $160 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Kent County home.
Estimates for a typical Kent County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Michigan 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.
Michigan requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the Board of Mechanical Rules, and it covers the contractor, not each job. That means the state has tested the person or company doing the work and keeps a record of them, but there is no separate license issued for this particular repair.
For a repair to your heating and cooling system, that contractor license is what stands behind the work. Whoever comes out to fix it should be able to point to that license, because it is the state's record that they were tested and can be traced back to.
Sources: Michigan Legislature · Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
- Why is my heat not working?
- Most often the igniter has failed or the flame sensor is too dirty to detect a flame, so the furnace shuts itself down before it can heat. A clogged filter can also starve the system of airflow until it overheats and trips a safety switch. Check the thermostat is set to heat and the filter isn't packed with dust before anything else. If the furnace won't even turn on, check the breaker and the switch that looks like a light switch near the unit, since either one being off will stop it cold.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- If the blower is running but the air isn't cold, the refrigerant charge is likely low, usually from a leak somewhere in the coil or lines. A frozen evaporator coil causes the same thing, and it freezes when airflow is restricted, often from a dirty filter. Check the filter first since that's the one thing you can fix yourself. If the coil is iced over, turn the system off and let it thaw before a contractor looks at it, since running it iced up can damage the compressor.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped to the wrong mode causes real problems that look like equipment failure. Check the filter next and replace it if you can't see light through it, because a clogged filter will choke either a furnace or an air conditioner. Check the breaker panel and any switch near the unit itself, since a tripped breaker or a switch left off will stop the system without anything being broken. If those all check out and the system still isn't working, a contractor will need to look at what's inside it.