No two heating systems break the same way, and in Redmond homes the first question on any no-heat call is what kind of equipment we are dealing with. Gas furnaces most often stall on an oxidized flame sensor. The burners fire, the sensor fails to confirm the flame, and after three attempts the control board closes the gas valve and locks the system out. Cracked hot surface igniters, sticking pressure switches, plugged condensate traps on high-efficiency units, and tired blower motors round out the usual list. Heat pumps have their own failure patterns. A defrost cycle that underperforms lets ice build up on the outdoor coil, a bad reversing valve leaves the system stuck in cooling mode, and a dead outdoor unit hands the whole load to the electric backup strips, which cost several times as much to run.
Most of our service calls are for Furnace Repair. If something has stopped working, start there.
Warning Signs for Heating Repair
Spotting the early warning signs lets you act before the problem gets expensive. Here are the most common indicators that it's time to call a professional:
- Clicking and failed ignition attempts before the furnace gives up
- Some rooms warm while others stay stubbornly cold
- Heating bills spiking while comfort keeps falling
- Strange smells from the vents, especially rotten egg or burning
- Booming or banging at ignition, a sign of delayed burner light-off
- A heat pump's outdoor unit encased in frost or ice
- No warm air at the registers even with the heat turned up
- Frequent on-off cycles that never bring rooms up to temperature
Act Before It Gets Worse
What seems like a minor issue today can take out a compressor or heat exchanger tomorrow. At the first hint of a problem, call (425) 969-4221 for a fast inspection.
