HVAC Repair in Seattle, WA
If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers King County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months of heat wears a furnace down
Your furnace runs from September through June here, ten months of the year, most of it on winter nights that average 32°F. The burner lights, runs, and shuts off, night after night, and each cycle puts a little more wear on the igniter and the parts that control it. When one of those parts finally gives out, the furnace won't light at all, and you find out on a cold morning.
More than half the homes in the county heat with electricity, so when the power goes out, the heat goes with it too. Summer asks almost nothing of the system by comparison, with afternoons averaging 70°F, so the furnace does the real work here and takes the real wear.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 32°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 70°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
Washington requires contractors to register with the state.
Washington puts contractors on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. That record means the business is registered, with a bond and insurance behind it. It does not mean the state tested anyone's knowledge of furnaces, heat pumps, or the rest of a heating and cooling system. There is no trade exam here, so no license backs up the work the way it would in a state that requires one.
For a repair job, that registration is what exists. There is no state license standing behind the person doing the work, only the record that the business is on file and covered.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. If the screen is blank, check for a tripped breaker or, on older units, a dead thermostat battery. If the thermostat is fine, listen for the furnace trying to start. A few clicks followed by silence usually means the igniter is failing or the flame sensor is dirty. No sound at all can mean the breaker for the furnace itself is off, or on gas units, that the pilot or ignition control lost power. More than half the homes here heat with electricity, so also check any dedicated breaker for the furnace or heat pump before assuming the worst.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the air filter first. A filter clogged with dust blocks airflow across the coil, and the coil can ice up so the air coming out feels weak or warm. If the filter is clean, go outside and make sure the outdoor unit's fan is spinning and not buried in leaves or debris. If the fan is running and air still is not cold, the system likely needs refrigerant checked, and that calls for a contractor with the right gauges.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings and batteries first, since a thermostat set to the wrong mode or schedule is often mistaken for a system failure. Next check the breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will stop a furnace or heat pump cold with no other symptoms. Then pull the air filter and hold it up to a light. If you cannot see light through it, replace it, since restricted airflow causes problems on both the heating and cooling side. If the system still is not working after these checks, a contractor will need to look at it directly.