HVAC Repair in Tampa, FL
Homes here need heat from December through January and cooling from March through November. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Hillsborough County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Nine months of cooling load, then storms on top of it
Your air conditioner runs March through November here, nine months of the year, working against summer afternoons that hit 91°F. That kind of run time wears on the compressor and the fan motor long before either one quits outright. You notice it first as a system that runs longer to hit the same temperature, or a house that stays a few degrees warmer than the thermostat says it should.
Winter is short, just December and January, with nights averaging 52°F, so the heating side gets little use and can fail quietly from sitting idle. On top of both, Hillsborough County has logged 63 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and most homes here heat with electricity. When the power goes out, the system stops cold until it comes back on, and in Florida last year over a third of households went at least a day without power to find that out.
- 2 months
- December through January, your system heats
- 9 months
- March through November, it cools
- 52°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Florida requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Florida's Construction Industry Licensing Board tests contractors before they can hold this license, and it keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license that qualifies someone to install a system is the one that qualifies them to repair yours.
For a repair like this, that license is what stands behind the work. It means the person working on your heating and cooling system was tested by the state and is on record with the board, whether the job is a new install or a repair call.
Sources: Florida Legislature · Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
- Why is my heat not working?
- Most heat failures come down to the thermostat, the igniter, or power getting cut off somewhere along the line. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is actually above room temperature, since a setting bumped by accident is a common cause. Check your breaker panel too, since a tripped breaker will stop the furnace or heat pump cold. If those look fine, the igniter may have failed, which a contractor can test and replace.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- When the system runs but the air coming out is not cold, the most common causes are a dirty filter, a frozen coil, or low refrigerant. A clogged filter chokes off airflow across the coil, and that coil can ice over as a result, which makes the problem worse the longer it runs. Check the filter first since that takes a minute and costs nothing. If the filter is clean and you feel weak or warm airflow at the vents, a contractor will need to check the refrigerant charge and the coil itself.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings first, since a system set to the wrong mode or a battery that died will look like a bigger problem than it is. Check the breaker panel next, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down. Check the air filter, since a filter clogged with dust restricts airflow and can cause both weak heating and weak cooling. If the outdoor unit is covered in leaves or debris after a storm, clear it away, since 63 damaging wind events have hit this area over the past ten years and outdoor units take the brunt of that. If none of this brings it back, a contractor can diagnose what is left.