HVAC Repair in Lincoln, NE
Homes here need heat from October through May and cooling from June through September. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lancaster County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Your system runs almost all year here
Lincoln needs heat from October through May and cooling the four months after that. There is almost no season off. Furnaces here fight winter nights that average 18°F, and that kind of cold keeps the burner cycling on and off for hours at a stretch. Each start puts wear on the igniter and the ignition control, and a worn one leaves you with a house that won't heat.
Summer runs the other way. Afternoons averaging 85°F push the air conditioner to run long stretches to keep up, and that load falls hardest on the compressor and the capacitor that starts it. Lancaster County also sees real storms, 19 winter storms and 151 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and a quarter of Nebraska households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024. A hard power loss can trip a system that was running fine the day before, and it's worth having someone check it once the power is back.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 4 months
- June through September, it cools
- 18°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 85°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $110 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Lancaster County home.
Estimates for a typical Lancaster County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Nebraska 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.
Nebraska requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the Department of Labor. It does not mean anyone tested the contractor's work or checked their skill on a furnace or an air conditioner. There is no trade exam behind it, so the number tells you the business is on record, not that the state stands behind the repair.
For this job, that leaves gas piping and a gas connection as the part worth the most caution, since a bad connection is the dangerous part of the work and Nebraska's registration was not built to test for it. The facts here name no state exam and no state inspection standing behind a heating and cooling repair. What protection exists comes from the registration itself, a business record, not a judgment on the work.
Source: Nebraska Legislature
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it is set to heat and set a few degrees above room temperature, and check that it has power or fresh batteries. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down. If the breaker is fine and the thermostat is calling for heat but nothing happens, the igniter or the flame sensor is a common failure point, and a contractor will need to check it.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the filter first. A clogged filter chokes off airflow, and the coil behind it can freeze over, which stops cold air from moving through the ducts at all. Turn the system off for a few hours to let any ice melt, then look at the filter and replace it if it is dirty. If the filter is clean and the air coming from the vents is not cold, the refrigerant charge may be low, and that is not something to add on your own. On a hot afternoon, a system that is low on refrigerant will run constantly and still lose ground.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings and batteries, the breaker panel, and the filter. Those catch a surprising number of no-heat and no-cool calls. Look at the outdoor unit too, and clear away any leaves, ice, or debris blocking it, especially after a windstorm. If everything there checks out and the system still is not doing its job, a contractor will need to look at the parts inside the cabinet, since those are not safe or practical to inspect yourself.