Furnace Not Heating in Albany

Furnace Not Heating in Albany

Albany is a heating town, full stop. The marine layer keeps it cool nearly year-round and central AC is close to nonexistent, so when people call us it's about a furnace or wall heater that's stopped working, not cooling. The city's 1920s through 1940s stucco and wood bungalows on the Marin Avenue grid, along with the ADUs and basement units tucked onto small lots, mostly run original gas wall furnaces, sometimes decades old.

On most of these calls the fix is one part: a cracked igniter, a carboned flame sensor, a limit switch tripped by a blocked grille, or a tired thermocouple on a standing-pilot unit. What matters in Albany is the age of the equipment behind the symptom. On a wall furnace that's been heating the same house since before the family that owns it moved in, we don't stop at clearing the no-heat call, we check the heat exchanger for cracks, because an old unit with a CO risk is a safety issue.

We run combustion analysis and CO testing on every gas furnace we open in Albany. We provide a written repair estimate after the on-site diagnosis and before any work starts. If we find a cracked heat exchanger on original equipment, we show it to you on camera and walk through repair versus a mini-split conversion, which fits well in Albany's small rooms and tight remodels.

Common causes

Igniter cracked from age. This is the most common reason a newer furnace won't fire. Years of heat cycling cause the igniter to split, and once it can't glow hot enough, the burners never catch. We confirm with a continuity test and replace it. Quick fix on most units.

Flame sensor fouled with carbon. Burners catch and then the furnace shuts down within seconds because the sensor can't confirm a flame, so the board cuts gas as a safety measure. Cleaning the carbon off usually restores it. Replacement only happens if the sensor itself has actually worn out.

Pilot and thermocouple on an original wall furnace. Most Albany bungalows still run a decades-old wall furnace with a standing pilot. When the pilot keeps going out, look at the thermocouple first, that's almost always the real fix rather than just relighting it over and over. We test its millivolt output and replace it when it's dropped off.

Limit switch tripped by a blocked grille. A blocked wall grille or a neglected filter restricts airflow in a small Albany room, the heat exchanger overheats, and the limit switch shuts the burners to protect it. People read that as a dead furnace. We open up the restriction and make sure the switch is resetting and staying closed afterward.

Cracked heat exchanger on original equipment. On Albany's older wall furnaces, a no-heat complaint sometimes uncovers a cracked heat exchanger, which is a CO safety issue. We inspect with a camera and show you the crack. This usually means replacement, and in a small Albany house a mini-split conversion is often the cleanest path.

Control fault on an ADU or basement-unit mini-split. On an ADU or basement unit fitted with a ductless heat pump instead of a furnace, a control or board fault can leave the unit unresponsive to a heat call. We read the fault history and confirm the board before replacing anything.

How we diagnose it

• Confirm the wall furnace control or thermostat is calling for heat and the unit is getting power and gas.
• Watch the full ignition sequence and read any fault code off the board or control.
• Run combustion analysis and CO testing, mandatory on every gas furnace we open in Albany.
• Inspect the heat exchanger with a camera on any original wall furnace.
• We put the repair price, or the repair-versus-conversion comparison, in writing on the estimate.

$99 diagnostic, credited toward the repair. You get a written quote before any work begins.

Furnace Not Heating in Albany: common questions

Nearby and related

Furnace Not Heating near Albany: Berkeley · El Cerrito .

This is usually a furnace repair in Albany job. See our furnace repair overview or the Albany service area.