HVAC Repair in Tacoma, WA
If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Pierce County will get in touch.
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Ten months of heat a year wears a furnace down
Your furnace in Pierce County runs September through June. That is ten months of the year, with only a short break in summer. Winter nights average 31°F, so on the coldest stretches the burner is cycling on and off for hours, and every cycle puts wear on the igniter and the ignition control board. When one of those parts finally gives out, the furnace stops lighting and the house goes cold.
Summer asks almost nothing of a cooling system here, with afternoons averaging around 70°F. Most of the strain in this county falls on the heating side, and most of the failures you will notice show up there too. 59.9% of homes here heat with electricity, so when the power goes out, the heat goes with it. In Washington, 23% of households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024, and a furnace that will not restart on its own once power is back is worth checking.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 31°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.
Registration means the contractor's business is on file with the state. There is no trade exam behind it. Nobody at the state tested this contractor on how to work on a furnace, a heat pump, or an air conditioner before handing them that registration.
So registration is not what stands behind the work on this job. It tells you the business is on record, not that the state checked their skill on a heating and cooling system.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it is set to heat, not just fan, and that the temperature is set above room temperature. If the thermostat looks right, check your breaker panel for a tripped breaker, since both the furnace and its blower run on electricity. A furnace that used to run and now does nothing often points to the igniter or a safety switch that shut it down, and that needs a contractor to check. If you hear the blower running but feel no warm air, the problem is likely with the burners or the igniter rather than the electrical side.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the air filter first. A filter clogged with dust blocks airflow through the coil and can make the system run without cooling the air much at all. Next check that all your supply vents are open and not blocked by furniture or rugs. If the filter is clean and the vents are open but the air coming out feels only slightly cool, the refrigerant charge or the outdoor coil may be the issue, and that calls for a contractor with gauges to check it properly.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings and batteries first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped to the wrong mode causes a lot of no-heat calls. Check your breaker panel next, since a tripped breaker will stop a furnace or air conditioner cold with no other symptoms. Look at the air filter and replace it if it is gray or clogged, since restricted airflow causes problems on both the heating and cooling side. If your unit has a condensate drain, check for standing water nearby, since a clogged drain line will shut some systems down on purpose. Write down anything unusual, like a smell, a sound, or an error code on the thermostat, since that detail helps a contractor diagnose the problem faster.