HVAC Repair in Cumberland, MD
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 Allegany County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat, three of cooling, and not much break between
Your furnace in Cumberland works from October through May. Winter nights average 24°F, cold enough that the burner cycles on and off for hours at a stretch to hold the house steady. Each cycle puts a little more wear on the igniter and the burner assembly, and after enough winters one of them fails to light. About half the homes here heat with gas, so this is the failure a lot of your neighbors deal with too.
Summer is shorter but not gentle. Afternoons average 84°F for three months, and your air conditioner runs long hours trying to keep up. That kind of steady runtime is hard on the compressor and the fan motor. Add in the storms, 106 damaging wind events and 56 winter storms over the last ten years in this area, and you get power blinks and outages on top of the wear. Most systems come back on their own once power returns, but a surge during a storm can still take out a control board or a capacitor.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 3 months
- June through August, it cools
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $180 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Allegany County home.
Estimates for a typical Allegany County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Maryland 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.
Maryland requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Maryland licenses HVAC contractors through the Maryland Board of Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Contractors. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license covers your repair without needing to be reissued for it.
For a repair on your heating and cooling system, that state license is the thing standing behind the work. If the repair touches a gas connection, a bad joint or fitting is the dangerous part of the job, and the contractor doing that work is the one the state license accounts for.
Sources: Maryland General Assembly · Maryland Department of Labor
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat and the power to the furnace before you assume the worst. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room level, then check the breaker and any switch that looks like a light switch near the furnace, since that shuts off power to the unit. If the furnace runs on gas, look at the flame through the viewing window. No flame and no sound of it trying to light points to a failed igniter or flame sensor. A furnace that short cycles or won't start at all on a night near 24 degrees needs attention fast, so if the basics check out and it still won't run, a contractor needs to look at it.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- The most common cause is a dirty air filter blocking airflow, so check that first. A filter clogged with dust starves the coil of air, and the coil can ice over as a result, which makes the problem worse the longer it runs. Next check that the outdoor unit isn't blocked by leaves, grass clippings or anything sitting against it, since it needs open air around it to release heat. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear and the house still isn't cooling, the system is likely low on refrigerant or has an electrical fault, and that calls for a licensed contractor to diagnose.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings first, since a setting bumped by accident is an easy fix. Check the breaker box for a tripped breaker and any power switch near the furnace or outdoor unit. Pull the air filter and hold it up to a light. If you can't see light through it, replace it. Look at the outdoor unit and clear away anything piled against it. If the system still isn't heating or cooling right after that, a Maryland-licensed contractor can find out what's actually wrong.