Opelousas Heating Repair
Opelousas is the parish seat of St. Landry Parish and one of the oldest cities in Louisiana. With over 16,000 residents, it’s the largest community we serve outside of Lafayette Parish, and its housing stock reflects more than two centuries of growth. That means we see just about every type of heating system imaginable when we respond to repair calls here.
F & R Air Conditioning has been covering Opelousas as part of our Acadiana service area since 1956. Whether you’re in one of the historic homes near the courthouse square, the neighborhoods along Creswell Lane, or the more recent development along the I-49 corridor, we have the tools and experience to diagnose and repair your heating system.
The Range of Heating Equipment in Opelousas
Central Gas Furnaces
Opelousas has one of the higher concentrations of gas furnaces in our service territory. Natural gas availability and the older housing stock make furnaces the default heating system in much of the city. We repair all furnace types, including:
- Single-stage furnaces with standing pilot lights (found in homes built before the 1990s)
- Single-stage furnaces with electronic ignition (1990s and 2000s construction)
- Two-stage and modulating furnaces (newer high-efficiency models)
Each type has distinct failure modes. Standing pilot systems fail differently than electronic ignition systems, and troubleshooting a modulating gas valve is a completely different process than diagnosing a single-stage valve. We’re trained on all of them.
Heat Pumps
The newer construction around Opelousas uses heat pump systems, which are the default choice for most builders in Louisiana today. The heat pump handles both cooling and heating with a single outdoor unit, switching between modes via a reversing valve.
Heat pump heating problems we commonly repair in Opelousas:
- Compressor won’t start in cold weather: Capacitors weaken over time and may not provide enough starting torque on cold mornings when the compressor oil is thick. A hard-start kit or capacitor replacement usually solves this.
- System heating poorly despite running. Low refrigerant charge, dirty outdoor coil, or a failing compressor. We measure refrigerant pressures and compressor amperage to identify the exact cause.
- Outdoor unit coated in ice — Defrost control failure. The system should cycle into defrost mode periodically. When it doesn’t, ice accumulates and heating output drops to nearly zero.
Opelousas Gets Colder Than You’d Think
People outside of Acadiana picture Louisiana as uniformly warm, but Opelousas sits far enough inland and far enough north that winter temperatures regularly dip into the upper 20s during cold snaps. The city recorded temperatures in the teens during some of the harder freezes in recent memory.
At those temperatures, a failed heating system is more than an inconvenience. It’s a safety concern, especially for the elderly and for families with small children. If your system is struggling, don’t wait for the next freeze to find out it’s going to fail completely. A diagnostic visit now is much cheaper than an emergency call at 2 AM when it’s 22 degrees.
Pipe Freeze Prevention
When heating systems fail during hard freezes, the secondary risk is frozen water pipes. If you lose heat and temperatures drop below freezing, open cabinet doors under sinks, let faucets drip, and call us. We prioritize emergency heating calls during freeze events because we know the stakes extend beyond comfort.
Heating Service Across St. Landry Parish
We cover Opelousas, Sunset, Arnaudville, and the surrounding St. Landry Parish communities. For heating repair, call F & R Air Conditioning at (337) 893-5646.