Why Is My Heat Pump Blowing Cold Air in Winter?
Heat pump air feels cool next to a furnace even when it works. How to tell normal from a fault: defrost, a thermostat setting, low charge or no aux heat.
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Heating & Cooling in St. Francis, MN
St. Francis grew up around Dwight Woodbury's 1855 dam and mills on the Rum River, the river Louis Hennepin had called the St. Francis in 1680, and it stayed small until its population more than tripled between 1990 and 2020.
HVAC service in St. Francis, MN
We repair and replace furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, boilers and ductless mini-splits in St. Francis and across Anoka County. Every visit starts with a $79 trip charge and a written price before any work, and the $79 is waived when you go ahead with the repair.
- County
- Anoka County
- ZIP code
- 55070
- Natural gas
- CenterPoint Energy
- Electric
- Connexus Energy
- From downtown Minneapolis
- about 29 miles
Updated September 26, 2026
What HVAC problems do we see most in St. Francis?
- First furnace replacements in 1990s and 2000s subdivision homes
- Retiring R-22 air conditioners installed before 2010
- Dual-fuel heat pumps set up for CenterPoint's ducted heat pump rebate and Connexus Energy's heating rate
- Chimney liners for water heaters left behind when older homes switch to condensing furnaces
Around town: Rum River · Rum River North County Park · Riverside Hotel · Minnesota Highway 47
Book in St. FrancisWhat are St. Francis homes like to heat and cool?
The village that grew around Woodbury's mills had creameries, mills and a starch factory, but the railroads went through Cedar and Bethel instead, industry drifted away, and a 1933 fire took the old gristmill and the dam across the Rum. The Woodbury family's house overlooking the river became the Riverside Hotel and still stands on Bridge Street. St. Francis had fewer than 900 people in 1970, so older houses are few, and the ones that remain have usually been remodeled and re-equipped more than once.
Then the city filled in. The population went from about 1,200 in 1980 to 7,200 in 2010, so the typical St. Francis house is a 1990s or 2000s subdivision home with a basement furnace, PVC venting and a condenser out back. Furnaces from the 1990s have reached the end of a normal service life, and some air conditioners from before 2010 still use R-22. On the rural edges of the city, larger parcels may sit beyond CenterPoint's gas lines and heat with propane.
Winter in St. Francis
January finds the weak spots in St. Francis's 1990s and 2000s houses. On condensing furnaces that are now 20 or 30 years old, the condensate trap and its rubber hoses clog or crack, water backs up, and the pressure switch shuts the furnace down on the coldest night of the month. Exhaust pipes that leave a side wall under a deck frost over the same way. Along the Rum River, low ground can hold cold air on still nights, and the older houses near the water lose heat faster than the subdivisions.
Summer in St. Francis
Many St. Francis air conditioners date from the 1990s and 2000s building boom, and those installed before 2010 may run on R-22, which is no longer produced. That makes summer the season of hard choices: a failed capacitor is a small fix, but a refrigerant leak on an R-22 unit usually points to replacement. Muggy nights along the Rum River keep systems running well after dark, and cottonwood fluff can mat outdoor coils by early summer, so rinse them gently before the first heat wave.
Which utilities and rebates apply in St. Francis?
St. Francis pairs CenterPoint Energy gas with Connexus Energy electricity, which opens programs on both sides. CenterPoint's furnace and boiler rebates work with any installer if you file within the install year, and a ducted heat pump qualifies only with a gas furnace as its backup. Connexus rebates heat pumps and central air, and it bills heat pump heating at a reduced rate when an automatic furnace stands behind it. Don't plan around Minnesota's HEAR or HOMES rebates; neither has launched.
Rebate programs change every year; check the utility's current terms before you buy. Our guides: Xcel and CenterPoint rebates, heat pump rebates, what happened to the federal credits.
Most-requested in St. Francis
Furnace repair in St. Francis Furnace repair here begins with a $79 trip charge, which is dropped if you approve the work. Furnace replacement in St. Francis A replacement furnace from us costs $4,500–$9,500 installed, about $4,500–$6,000 for 80% AFUE and $6,500–$9,500 for 96–98% condensing. AC repair in St. Francis Builder-grade condensers from the 1990s and 2000s sit behind many homes here, and every repair visit starts with a $79 trip charge, waived when you approve the work. AC replacement in St. Francis Many homes here are due for a first or second AC replacement, and a new one costs $5,200–$9,800 installed with us, sized by Manual J and priced in writing.
All services in St. Francis
St. Francis HVAC questions
Who repairs furnaces and air conditioners in St. Francis, MN?
Central Minnesota Heating and Cooling serves St. Francis and the rest of Anoka County, about 29 miles from downtown Minneapolis. We repair and replace furnaces, central air, heat pumps, boilers and ductless mini-splits, and we're open 7 days, 7am–9pm. Call 612-429-3465.
How much does an HVAC service call cost in St. Francis?
A flat $79 trip charge, waived when you approve the repair. Written price before any work; same prices in every town we serve. Installed prices are on our pricing page.
Our late-1990s St. Francis house is still on the builder's furnace. Replace it now or wait?
Not automatically, but plan for it. A furnace that age has run more than 25 Minnesota winters. We'll repair it for an igniter or flame sensor, but a cracked heat exchanger, a failed inducer on top of other repairs, or a control board that's no longer made usually tips it to replacement. A written quote in the fall beats choosing equipment during a January no-heat call, and CenterPoint's rebate is filed the same calendar year.
Can an older house near the Rum River in St. Francis get central air without new ductwork?
Yes, two ways. Ductless heat pumps put small heads in the rooms that need them, with refrigerant lines through the wall, and they heat in spring and fall too. Or a high-velocity system feeds each room through small flexible tubes snaked through closets and walls; national cost guides such as HomeGuide put those at $3,500–$15,000+ installed. We look at the house, the rooms you use and the electric panel before recommending either.
We have CenterPoint gas and Connexus electric in St. Francis. What's the best way to add a heat pump?
Usually a ducted heat pump paired with your gas furnace. CenterPoint only rebates a ducted heat pump when a gas furnace backs it up, and that same furnace is the automatic backup Connexus Energy requires for its lower heating rate. The heat pump cools in summer and carries the milder heating days, while the furnace handles deep cold and any stretch when Connexus interrupts the heat pump during peak demand.
We bought one of the older houses in the original St. Francis village. What should a heating check cover?
Start with safety: working CO alarms within 10 feet of every bedroom, which Minnesota law requires, and a draft test on anything venting into the chimney. Older houses often have a furnace that has been replaced several times on ductwork that wasn't, so we measure airflow and look for rooms fed by one small run. Then we check the heat exchanger, the gas piping and the age of the air conditioner.
Also serving near St. Francis
- Oak Grove, MN 5 mi
- Nowthen, MN 5 mi
- East Bethel, MN 9 mi
- Ramsey, MN 10 mi
- Elk River, MN 11 mi
- Ham Lake, MN 12 mi
- Andover, MN 12 mi
- Dayton, MN 12 mi
Guides for St. Francis homeowners
Heat Pump Defrost Cycle: What's Normal in a Minnesota Winter
Why your heat pump steams, whooshes and stops in winter. What a normal defrost cycle looks like in Minnesota, and the ice signs that need a service call.
Read the guideWhat a Furnace Inspection Covers, and Why Each Check Matters
What a technician checks on a furnace inspection in Minnesota, from gas pressure and combustion to the heat exchanger, and what each reading tells you.
Read the guide- High-Velocity AC for Older Minnesota Homes: Pros and ConsCooling
- 8 Heat Pump Buying Mistakes Minnesota Homeowners MakeHeat Pumps
- Radiant Floor Heat vs Baseboard in Minnesota: Comfort, Water Temperature and CostHeating
Brands we service in St. Francis: AirEase · Amana · American Standard · Ameristar · Aprilaire · Arcoaire · Armstrong Air · Bosch · Broan-NuTone · Bryant · Buderus · Burnham · Carrier · Champion · Coleman · Comfortmaker · Concord · Daikin · Day & Night · Ducane · ecobee · Frigidaire · Fujitsu · Gibson · Goodman · Google Nest · Gree · Heil · Honeywell Home · Lennox · LG · Lifebreath · Lochinvar · Luxaire · Maytag · Midea · Mitsubishi Electric · MrCool · Navien · NTI · Payne · Peerless · Rheem · Rinnai · RunTru · Ruud · Samsung · Santa Fe · Tempstar · Trane · Triangle Tube · Utica Boilers · Viessmann · Weil-McLain · Westinghouse · York
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Heat out in St. Francis? Call or send a request.