HVAC Repair in Hattiesburg, MS
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 Forrest County will get in touch.
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Eleven months of work a year on your system
Your system runs almost year round here. Heat from November through March, cooling from May through October, and only one month where it can rest. Summer afternoons average 91°F, so the compressor runs under load for six months straight. That kind of run time wears on the parts that keep refrigerant moving, and a system pushed this hard tends to lose cooling capacity before it fails outright. You will notice it first as a house that takes longer to cool down or never quite gets there.
Winter nights average 40°F from December through February, and the furnace or heat pump still has to cycle on through those months to keep up. Most homes here heat with electricity, which means a heat pump doing the work of both heating and cooling, or a furnace paired with an electric air handler. Forrest County has seen 115 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and in Mississippi, 30% of households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024. When power drops and comes back, check that your system restarts on its own. Most do, but it is worth knowing before it happens to you.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 6 months
- May through October, it cools
- 40°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Mississippi requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state board tests contractors before they get that license, and it keeps a record of who holds one. That record follows the contractor, not the job, so the same license covers a furnace repair, an AC repair, or any other HVAC work they take on.
For a heating and cooling repair, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. It means the state has tested this contractor and has a record of them, no matter what part of the system needs fixing.
Source: Mississippi State Board of Contractors
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it is set to heat and the setpoint is above room temperature, since a setting bumped a degree or two can look like a dead system. If that checks out, look at the breaker box. A tripped breaker will shut the whole system down and give no other warning. Gas furnaces will often show a light on the control board, and a blinking pattern usually points to what stopped it, though what each pattern means varies by furnace. If the thermostat and breaker are fine and the furnace still will not fire, it needs a contractor to look at it.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the air filter first. A filter clogged with dust blocks airflow across the indoor coil, and when air cannot move past it the coil can ice over, which cuts cooling even though the system keeps running. Next look at the outdoor unit. If the fan is not spinning or the unit is caked in leaves and dirt, it cannot release the heat it is pulling from the house. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is running and clear, the system likely needs refrigerant checked or a part looked at, and that calls for a contractor with gauges to find out what is low or failing.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat first. Confirm it is set to heat or cool as needed, the batteries are not dead, and the setpoint actually calls for what you want. Then check the breaker box for anything tripped, since a reset breaker sometimes brings a system right back. Look at the air filter next. A dark, packed filter restricts airflow enough to cause both heating and cooling problems, and it is the one thing in the system a homeowner can safely replace. If the outdoor unit is covered in leaves or debris, clearing the area around it helps too. If the system still is not working after that, a licensed contractor can diagnose what is left.