Heating and Cooling in Franklin County, MO

Union is the county seat and Washington is the largest city, but neither one describes the county. The north end is river towns and vineyards, the south end is I-44, and the middle is Ozark hills with commuters and farms side by side. It also sits inside the St. Louis metropolitan area, which explains the subdivisions. Your town decides how we schedule, so start with the table.

Heating and cooling in Franklin County, town by town

St. Clair, Pacific and Sullivan are all about an hour or more from our office, so call first and we will confirm the schedule before you plan around a visit.

Mostly electric, with propane on the back roads

Electricity is the main heating fuel in 67.6% of the county's 43,036 occupied homes, according to the 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey. Utility gas follows at 15.1%, propane at 10.8% and wood at 4.1%, and fuel oil still holds 1.1%.

That leaves a lot of heat pump repair and electric air handler work, because a failed defrost board in a cold snap puts a home on expensive strip heat. On farms and hill roads the job is often propane furnace service, and shops in Union and Washington are more likely to need commercial HVAC repair.

Hills, karst and floodplain addresses

The county lies in the Ozarks, with steep valleys, caves and sinkholes. Soils near the Missouri River are rich, while upland soils are thin and rocky, and the Bourbeuse River winds 107 miles through the county before reaching the Meramec near Union. Those facts change real decisions. Rocky ground affects whether a geothermal loop makes sense, and a low lot near a creek affects how high an outdoor unit should sit.

Which service fits your part of Franklin County?

Who to ask at the county offices in Union

Franklin County publishes a Building Department page, which gives you a clear place to start. The department issues permits and inspects new construction in unincorporated areas, and works from Room 006 at 400 E Locust in Union. Its page lists the 2021 International Mechanical Code with a county amendment. Planning and Zoning shares that room number and handles floodplain development permits, so ask there if your property is in a mapped flood area. Inside Union, Washington or any other city, check with city hall.

Rural electric service here varies by address, with Crawford Electric Cooperative and Three Rivers Electric Cooperative both named in Missouri Public Service Commission filings. Read your bill, then call (209) 563-1270 and tell us the town and road.

Housing runs from 4,583 units built before 1940 to more than 12,000 built since 2000, with a median year of 1984. Bring us the age of your system and we will tell you if repair still makes sense.