Heating Repair in Houston
Houston’s heating season is short, and it usually starts overnight with a cold front. That’s when a furnace or heat pump that sat idle since spring shows what’s wrong. Some heating problems can wait a day or two. A gas smell or a carbon monoxide alarm can’t.
Signs You Need Heating Repair
- No heat at all, even with the thermostat set to Heat
- Weak heat, or some rooms warm while others stay cold
- A system that turns on and off every few minutes
- Strange noises: banging, squealing, rattling or clicking that goes on and on
- A burning smell that lingers, or one like hot plastic or wiring
- A pilot light that keeps going out, or burners that click but won’t light
- A thermostat that’s blank or doesn’t respond
Gas Smell or Carbon Monoxide Alarm: Leave, Then Call
Natural gas smells like rotten eggs. If you smell it, get everyone out of the house right away. Don’t flip switches, light anything or use your phone inside. Once you’re outside and away from the house, call your gas utility or 911.
If a carbon monoxide alarm goes off, get everyone into fresh air and call 911. Headaches, dizziness or nausea that ease once you’re outdoors are warning signs too. Stay out until the responders say it’s safe to go back in.
Heating Warning Signs, Sorted by Urgency
Most heating trouble is a comfort problem. A few signs are safety problems, and they go to the front of the line.
- Shut It Off and Call: a burning plastic or electrical smell, smoke from a vent or the unit, or a loud bang when the burners light. That bang can mean gas is building up before it ignites.
- Call Soon: no heat on a cold night, a furnace that lights and then shuts off, or a heat pump encased in ice.
- Can Wait for a Routine Visit: a squealing blower, one room cooler than the rest, or a rattle that started after months off. A fall tune-up is a good time to have them looked at.
One smell is normal. On the first cold morning of the season, dust that settled on the heat exchanger or the electric heat strips burns off as the heat comes on, and the house smells like burning dust for a short while. Open a window and it fades. A burning plastic or electrical smell is not normal, and neither is any burning smell that lingers or comes back every time the heat runs.
Finding the Fault in a Furnace or Heat Pump
Gas Furnaces
A gas furnace lights in a set order. The thermostat calls for heat, the inducer fan starts and clears the flue, a pressure switch confirms the draft, the ignitor glows or sparks, the gas valve opens and the burners light. The flame sensor proves there’s a flame, and after a short delay the blower starts pushing warm air through the ducts. Repair starts by watching that sequence and finding the step where it stops.
After that, the fixes get specific. Hot surface ignitors crack with age. A flame sensor coated with grime can’t prove the flame, so the burners light for a few seconds and shut off; cleaning or replacing the sensor ends that cycle. Inducer motors and pressure switches fail, limit switches trip when a clogged filter lets the furnace overheat, and the control board flashes a code that points the way. Gas pressure gets checked too, and so does the heat exchanger. A crack there can let combustion gases into the air you breathe, and it’s a reason to shut the furnace down.
Heat Pumps
A heat pump is an air conditioner that also runs in reverse. A reversing valve flips the direction the refrigerant flows, so the same system heats or cools. A defrost control clears frost off the outdoor coil in cold, damp weather, and electric heat strips in the air handler back it up on the coldest mornings. Typical repairs include a stuck reversing valve, a failed defrost sensor or board, an outdoor fan motor, a refrigerant leak, and burned-out heat strips or sequencers. The capacitor and contactor outside wear out just as they do on any AC.
How can I tell if I have a furnace or a heat pump?
Step outside while the heat is on. If the outdoor unit is running, you have a heat pump. A gas furnace has a gas line running to it and a vent pipe that leads up through the roof or out a wall, and you’ll hear the burners light a moment before the blower starts. Many Houston homes pair a gas furnace in the attic or a closet with a central AC, while others heat with a heat pump backed up by electric heat strips.
Are furnace repairs different from heat pump repairs?
Quite a bit. A furnace burns gas, so its repairs center on lighting it and venting it safely: ignitors, flame sensors, gas valves, inducer motors, pressure switches and vent pipes. A heat pump moves heat with refrigerant, so its repairs look a lot like AC repair: capacitors, contactors, fan motors, reversing valves, defrost controls and leaks. Both share a blower, a thermostat and the ductwork.
What can I safely check before calling for heating repair?
Make sure the thermostat is set to Heat and a few degrees above the room temperature, and put in fresh batteries if the screen is blank. Check the air filter. Look for a tripped breaker and reset it once; if it trips again, leave it off. Find the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch on or near the unit, and make sure it’s on. Check that the furnace door is closed tight, since a safety switch keeps the furnace off when it’s loose. Leave the burners, the gas valve and the wiring alone.