HVAC Repair in Starkville, MS
Homes here need heat from November through March and cooling from May through September. If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Oktibbeha County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months of work a year in Starkville
Your system runs from November through March to keep the house warm, then May through September to keep it cool. That is ten months out of the year with barely a break between them. Winter nights here average 35°F, cold enough that the furnace cycles on and off most of the night, and summer afternoons average 91°F, so the compressor runs long and hard to keep up.
Most homes here heat with electricity, so when the power goes out, the heat goes with it. Oktibbeha County has seen 91 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms like that are what knock the power out in the first place. Thirty percent of Mississippi households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024. A system that loses power in a cold snap and then has to catch up all at once is a system that finds out fast which part was already weak.
- 5 months
- November through March, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 35°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 of Contractors is the one that licenses HVAC contractors in Mississippi. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job, so it covers whatever work that contractor takes on rather than being issued job by job.
For a repair to your heating and cooling system, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. If gas is part of the repair, the connection is the part that matters most, since a poor seal there is what turns a repair into a hazard.
Source: Mississippi State Board of Contractors
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it is set to heat and set above room temperature, and check that it has power if it runs on batteries. If the thermostat looks right, check your breaker panel for a tripped breaker, since a furnace that lost power will not respond to anything else you try. Gas furnaces will also shut down if the pilot light or igniter fails, so if you smell gas at all, leave the house and call your gas utility before touching anything. With 65.7% of homes here heating with electricity, a tripped breaker or blown fuse is worth checking first if your system runs on electric heat.
- 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 that happens the coil can ice over and stop cooling the air even though the system keeps running. Next check that the outdoor unit is not blocked by leaves, grass clippings, or anything sitting against it, since it needs open airflow to release heat. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit is clear, the system may be low on refrigerant or have an electrical fault, and that needs a contractor to diagnose.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings, the batteries in it if it uses them, and the breaker panel for a tripped breaker. Check the air filter and replace it if it looks gray or clogged, since restricted airflow causes problems on both the heating and cooling side. Look at the outdoor unit and clear away any leaves, grass, or debris sitting against it. If you have a gas furnace and smell gas, do not check anything yourself. Leave the house and call your gas utility. Beyond these checks, diagnosing the system itself is a job for a licensed contractor, and Mississippi requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license to do that work.