Heating Repair in Tempe, AZ — Gas Furnaces, Heat Pumps, and Electric Heat

No heat on the first cold morning in Tempe is one of three systems: a gas furnace, a heat pump, or an electric air handler with heat strips. They fail differently and they cost differently to fix. We work on all three, from a shop at 2465 W 12th St, off Priest and Broadway. Most of Tempe is under 15 minutes away.

Which one do you have?

Thirty seconds and you'll know before you call.

• Gas furnace. A metal cabinet in the garage, a hall closet, or the attic, with a gas line and a flue pipe going up through the roof. You'll hear a click, then a whoosh as the burners light. Common in older Tempe homes and larger homes with Southwest Gas service.
• Heat pump. The outdoor unit runs in winter, not just summer. No gas line to the system. The most common setup in Tempe.
• Electric air handler with heat strips. Indoor unit with no gas line, and the outdoor unit doesn't run when it heats. Common in condos and apartments.

Some homes have a dual-fuel setup: a heat pump outside and a gas furnace inside, with the thermostat choosing between them. If you're not sure, call and describe what you see. We'll tell you over the phone.

Gas furnace problems we fix in Tempe

• Clicks but won't light. The hot surface ignitor cracked or the flame sensor is coated. Both are cheap, fast fixes and the most common furnace calls we get.
• Lights, then shuts off after a few seconds. Usually a dirty flame sensor. If it runs a few minutes and then shuts off, it's a limit switch tripping on a clogged filter or a blocked return.
• Inducer motor humming or rattling, no flame. The inducer clears the flue before the burners light. If it's failing, or the pressure switch doesn't see it, the furnace won't fire.
• Blower runs, air is cold. Gas valve, ignition, or a safety control that's locked the furnace out after repeated failed starts.
• Burning smell. A few minutes of burnt dust on the first run of the year is normal. A smell that lasts, or smells like plastic or wiring, means shut it off. Burning smell guide.
• Cracked heat exchanger. The one that matters most. A crack can let combustion gas into the supply air. We run a carbon monoxide test on every gas furnace visit, and we'll show you the reading.

If you smell gas, don't touch the thermostat or light switches. Leave the house and call Southwest Gas or 911 from outside.

Heat pump problems

A heat pump is your AC running backwards, and the winter-only parts fail after sitting since March: the reversing valve, the defrost board, the heat strips. Blowing cold on heat, iced over, won't switch from cool to heat, or a December bill that doubled. All of that is covered on our Tempe heat pump repair page, with its own price table. Owner Eric Lipp is a Master Heat Pump Technician through the Electric League of Arizona.

Bill jumped and the thermostat says "Aux"? The heat strips are covering for a heat pump that isn't keeping up. What aux and emergency heat mean, and when it's a repair.

Electric heat and air handlers

Heat strips, sequencers, and limit switches. A strip that won't come on leaves the house cold before sunrise. A shorted element or failed sequencer trips the breaker every time the heat starts. Breaker tripping guide.

What heating repair costs in Tempe

Installed, parts and labor, East Valley residential. Your written quote comes before any work.

A cracked heat exchanger on a furnace past 15 years is almost always the replacement conversation. We give you both numbers on one sheet, and the tech doesn't earn commission on either.

Fall heating tune-up

Book it in October or November, before the first 38° morning. Gas furnace: ignition, flame sensor, burners, heat exchanger inspection, gas pressure, safety controls, and a carbon monoxide test. Heat pump: run in heat mode, force a defrost cycle, test each heat strip stage, check the reversing valve and thermostat staging. $59.95 per system, the same tune-up we run in spring.

Repair or replace

If the furnace is old and the AC is due too, a heat pump does both jobs. In most of Tempe it costs less to run than gas through our short winters, and as an APS and SRP qualified contractor we file the utility rebates. If you'd rather keep gas, we'll quote that too. The repair-or-replace math is the same for heating as for cooling.

Where we work in Tempe

North Tempe and ASU-area rentals, Maple-Ash and Mitchell Park, Kiwanis Park, Warner Ranch, The Lakes, and the condos north of the 202. Zip codes 85281, 85282, 85283, 85284 and 85285. Same truck covers Chandler, Mesa, Ahwatukee and South Scottsdale. Outside Tempe? See heating repair across the Valley.