Charlotte, NC · Emergency HVAC
Emergency HVAC repair in Charlotte: what to do right now.
Some HVAC problems can wait until morning and some can't. This guide helps you tell the difference, keep your family and home safe, and get the right help fast.
Quick answer
If you smell gas or your carbon monoxide alarm goes off, get everyone outside and call 911 first. For a gas smell, also call Piedmont Natural Gas. For a burning smell or a breaker that keeps tripping, turn the system off at the breaker. For water leaking from the unit, turn the system off and contain the water. No heat in freezing weather or no AC in extreme heat with vulnerable people at home is urgent, so call an HVAC company right away. Most other problems can safely wait for a normal service call.
Is it really an emergency?
Use this table to decide how fast you need help and who to call first.
| Situation | Urgency | Who to call first |
|---|---|---|
| Gas smell (rotten eggs) | Leave now | 911 and Piedmont Natural Gas, from outside |
| Carbon monoxide alarm | Leave now | 911, from outside |
| Smoke, burning or electrical smell | Shut off now | 911 if there's smoke or fire, then an HVAC technician |
| No heat with temperatures near freezing | Same day | HVAC company |
| No AC in extreme heat with infants, elderly or sick people | Same day | HVAC company, and move people somewhere cool |
| Water leaking through a ceiling or onto floors | Same day | HVAC company (shut the system off first) |
| Breaker trips again after one reset | Same day | HVAC company (leave the breaker off) |
| AC or heat working poorly, house still livable | Can wait | Book a regular service visit |
| New noise, but the system still heats or cools | Can wait | Book a regular service visit |
What to do right now, situation by situation
You smell gas
- Get everyone out of the house. Leave doors open on the way out if it's quick.
- Don't touch light switches, the thermostat or appliances, and don't use your phone until you're outside. Any spark can ignite gas.
- From a safe distance, call 911 and Piedmont Natural Gas.
- Don't go back inside until the utility or the fire department says it's safe. Then call us to inspect the furnace and gas connections.
The carbon monoxide alarm is sounding
CO has no smell and no color. Treat every alarm as real. Get everyone and every pet outside into fresh air and call 911. Headaches, dizziness or nausea in more than one person make it more urgent. Before you run the furnace again, have the heat exchanger, the flue and every gas appliance inspected.
Burning smell, smoke or a breaker that keeps tripping
Turn the system off at the thermostat, then switch off its breaker in the panel. If you see smoke or flames, leave and call 911. A dusty smell the first time the heat runs in fall is normal and fades within an hour. A sharp electrical or plastic smell is not normal. Don't reset a breaker more than once, because repeated resets can damage a shorted motor or compressor.
Water leaking from the unit
Turn the system off at the thermostat so it stops making condensate. Put towels or a bucket under the leak, and if water is coming through a ceiling, protect what's below it. In Charlotte, this is almost always a clogged condensate drain line on an attic or closet air handler. It's a quick fix, but the water damage gets worse every hour the system keeps running.
No heat in freezing weather
Check the thermostat setting and batteries, the breakers and the furnace filter first. If you have a heat pump, look at the outdoor unit. A thick block of ice that doesn't clear means the defrost cycle isn't working. Set the thermostat to Emergency Heat if it has that setting. It runs the backup heat strips so you have heat while you wait, though they cost more to run. Our heating repair guide covers the common causes.
No AC during a heat wave
Run through the quick checks in our AC repair guide: thermostat, breakers, filter and ice on the lines. If anyone at home is vulnerable to heat, move them somewhere cool now, like a cooler room, a relative's home or a public cooling space. Don't wait for the repair.
How to keep the house safe while you wait
- In summer: close blinds on sunny windows and run ceiling fans. Stay on the lowest floor, since attics and upstairs rooms heat up first in Charlotte homes. Drink plenty of water and avoid using the oven.
- In winter: close doors to rooms you aren't using and gather the family in one room. Open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls so pipes don't freeze.
- Space heaters: use only modern units with tip-over shutoff, plug them straight into the wall (not an extension cord) and keep them 3 feet from anything that can burn.
- Never heat the house with a gas oven, a grill or a generator, indoors or in a garage. They're a leading cause of carbon monoxide poisoning.
What to tell the dispatcher when you call
A clear description helps us send the right technician with the right parts. When you call, have this ready:
- What's happening: no heat, no cooling, water, smell or noise, and when it started
- The type of system, such as heat pump, gas furnace, AC, mini-split or package unit, and where the indoor unit is (attic, crawlspace, closet or basement)
- Anything you've already tried, like a new filter or a reset breaker
- Whether anyone in the home is especially vulnerable to heat or cold
- The brand and approximate age of the system, if you know them. They're on the label on the indoor or outdoor unit.
A photo of the unit's data plate and of any error code on the thermostat or control board also helps.
How to avoid the next emergency
Most emergency calls we get started as a small problem weeks earlier: a capacitor getting weak, a drain line slowly filling with algae, a flame sensor getting dirty. Two tune-ups a year catch most of these. Our Charlotte maintenance guide lists exactly what should be checked. Change filters on schedule and test smoke and CO alarms twice a year. If your system is old and needing repairs more often, read our guide to what a new HVAC system costs in Charlotte before the next breakdown forces the decision.
Written by the Orange Lions Mechanical teamLicensed HVAC and refrigeration contractor in Charlotte, NC (State License #36527). Residential and commercial service across Mecklenburg, Union, Cabarrus and Gaston counties.
