HVAC Repair in Fort Smith, AR
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 Sebastian County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work a year for your system
Fort Smith only gives your furnace and air conditioner one month off. Heat runs November through April, and cooling picks up right behind it from May through September. Winter nights average 31°F, cold enough that the burner cycles on and off most of the night. Summer afternoons average 91°F, and the compressor runs long stretches trying to keep up.
That kind of year round demand wears on the parts that start the system up, the igniter in the furnace and the capacitor that kicks the compressor on. When one of those goes, you notice it fast, either the furnace won't light or the air coming out stops being cold. Storms add to the load here too. Sebastian County has seen 122 damaging wind events and 10 winter storms over the past ten years, and with over half of homes heating with electricity, a power outage means no heat at all until it's back.
- 6 months
- November through April, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 31°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Arkansas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license that qualifies someone to install a system also qualifies them to repair yours. Cities and counties in Arkansas cannot add their own HVAC license on top of it, so the state's license is the only one that applies here, wherever you live in Sebastian County.
For a repair like this, that state license is what stands behind the person working on your system. There is no separate city or county license standing behind it, and none is needed. The license itself is the record that this contractor met the state's requirement to do this work.
Source: Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start by checking the thermostat is set to heat and the setpoint is above room temperature. If it's a furnace, check the breaker and the switch that looks like a light switch near the unit, since that shuts it off for service. A pilot light or igniter that won't catch often means the flame sensor needs cleaning, and that's a job for a licensed contractor. With winter nights here averaging 31°F, a furnace that short cycles or won't fire at all needs attention the same day.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the air filter first. A filter clogged with dust chokes off airflow across the coil, and when that happens the coil can ice over even though the blower is still running. If the filter looks clean, check that the outdoor unit isn't blocked by leaves or debris, since it needs open airflow to release heat. When afternoons here hit 91°F, a system that's running but not keeping up is often low on refrigerant or has a coil problem, and that calls for a licensed contractor to diagnose.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat batteries and settings, then check the breaker box for a tripped breaker. Look at the air filter and replace it if it's dirty, since a clogged filter causes problems that look like bigger failures. If the outdoor unit has power but isn't running, check that nothing is blocking it. A contractor licensed in Arkansas can price and diagnose whatever these steps don't fix.