HVAC Repair in Summerville, SC
Homes here need heat from November through March and cooling from May through October. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Dorchester County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of work for one system
Summerville only gets a break from heating or cooling one month a year. The compressor runs hard for six months, May through October, with summer afternoons averaging 91°F. The furnace or heat pump takes over for the five months after that, working through winter nights that average 38°F.
Most homes here heat with electricity, so the same system carries both seasons back to back. Dorchester County has logged 227 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and in 2024 nearly half of South Carolina households lost power for at least a day. Every time the power drops and comes back, the system restarts on its own, and that is when a weak capacitor or a failing board finally quits. If your air is warm when it should be cold, or the heat is cycling on and off on a cold night, that is a part giving out after months of running.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 6 months
- May through October, it cools
- 38°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat and the power to the furnace. If it's electric, check the breaker. If it's gas, check that the pilot or igniter is doing its job and that the gas valve is on. A dirty filter can also choke off airflow until the system shuts itself down to protect the heat exchanger. Winter nights here average 38°F, so a furnace that won't hold heat is worth getting looked at before the next cold snap rather than after.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- The air is moving but something between the coil and your rooms isn't working the way it should. A dirty filter or a frozen evaporator coil will let air blow through without pulling any heat out of it. Low refrigerant does the same thing. Check the filter first, since that's the one thing you can rule out yourself. If the outdoor unit is running but the air at the vents feels barely cool, the coil or the refrigerant charge needs a contractor's attention.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings first, including the batteries if it uses them. Check the breaker box for a tripped breaker. Check the filter too, since a clogged one can cause both heating and cooling problems. If the system lost power recently, give it a few minutes. Most central air conditioners and furnaces come back on by themselves once power returns. Outages aren't rare here. In South Carolina, 45% of households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024, so it's worth ruling out a simple restart before assuming the system itself has failed.