Can you replace the old furnace in my Pinole house with a high-efficiency one?

Usually, yes, but the venting has to be planned. A condensing furnace vents through its own pipe, which can leave the water heater in a flue that is now too big for it. We check the water heater vent, the gas line and the duct condition before quoting, so the written scope covers the whole job.

There is a musty smell from my floor registers. Is that the furnace?

It can be, but in a house with crawlspace ducts it can just as easily be the ducts themselves: a disconnected run pulling air from under the house, or damp insulation. We look at both the furnace and the ducts during the diagnostic and tell you which one is at fault.

Do I have to pay for the diagnostic on top of the repair?

No. We charge $99 for the diagnostic and credit it toward the repair if you go ahead. The written quote comes before any work starts. ADRIUM is licensed under CSLB #1136642, and the company holds EPA 608 Universal certification.

Heating & cooling

AC & HVAC repair in Pinole.

Furnace and heat pump work for Pinole's postwar houses, with the venting and the ducts checked along with the furnace.

Call (925) 999-4095

Much of Pinole was built in the postwar boom of the 1940s through the 1960s, and single-family detached houses are by far the most common home in the city. Houses of that era were built with modest heating: a floor furnace, a wall furnace, or an early forced-air furnace in a closet or under the floor, with ducts running through the crawlspace. Air conditioning, where a house has it, was added decades after the house was built.

The city is not all one age, though. Old Town keeps much of its turn-of-the-century building stock. Pinole Valley is suburban, mainly medium and large single-family homes with three bedrooms and up, and Pinole on the Hill is mostly midsize homes, with Linda Heights, Nob Hill and Bay Side among the other neighborhoods. A larger Pinole Valley house on a newer ducted system and a small postwar house on its original heater need very different conversations, and we treat them that way.

A good HVAC repair in an older house looks past the furnace to the vent, the gas supply, the ducts and the electrical panel feeding it. That is how we diagnose here. The visit is a $99 diagnostic, credited toward the repair when you approve the work, and you get a written quote before anything starts. ADRIUM is licensed under CSLB #1136642 and holds EPA 608 Universal certification for refrigerant work.

Floor furnaces, wall furnaces and crawlspace ducts

Postwar heating equipment fails in known places. On a floor or wall furnace it is the thermocouple, the pilot assembly or the gas valve, and we repair those when the unit is still safe to run. On an early forced-air furnace we also get under the house, because crawlspace ducts of that age can be disconnected, crushed or wrapped in old insulation. Anything that looks like it could contain asbestos we flag and leave undisturbed. A furnace heating the crawlspace instead of the rooms has a duct problem, not a furnace problem, and the quote should say so. Furnace repair covers this side of the work.

Upgrading a furnace without orphaning the water heater

When an old furnace is replaced with a high-efficiency condensing model, the new unit vents through its own plastic pipe. That leaves the gas water heater alone in a flue that was sized for two appliances, and a flue too large for one small appliance can draft poorly and condense inside. We check that before quoting. If the water heater vent needs a liner or a resize, it goes into the written scope instead of turning up after the install. The gas line gets the same attention, since a postwar supply pipe may not carry the load of a larger furnace. Replacement work runs through HVAC installation.

Heat pumps and the electrical panel

A heat pump is often the cleaner replacement for a postwar furnace, since it heats and adds cooling from one outdoor unit and needs no flue. The limit in these houses is usually the electrical service. Many homes from the 1940s through the 1960s still have a 60 or 100 amp panel, and that decides whether a heat pump fits as is, needs a load calculation, or waits on a panel upgrade. We look at the panel during the estimate so the answer is in the quote. Where there are no ducts, or the crawlspace ducts are not worth saving, a Mitsubishi or Daikin ductless system skips them entirely, and ADRIUM is factory-trained on Daikin and Mitsubishi alike.

Common questions, Pinole.

Can you replace the old furnace in my Pinole house with a high-efficiency one?: Usually, yes, but the venting has to be planned. A condensing furnace vents through its own pipe, which can leave the water heater in a flue that is now too big for it. We check the water heater vent, the gas line and the duct condition before quoting, so the written scope covers the whole job.
There is a musty smell from my floor registers. Is that the furnace?: It can be, but in a house with crawlspace ducts it can just as easily be the ducts themselves: a disconnected run pulling air from under the house, or damp insulation. We look at both the furnace and the ducts during the diagnostic and tell you which one is at fault.
Do I have to pay for the diagnostic on top of the repair?: No. We charge $99 for the diagnostic and credit it toward the repair if you go ahead. The written quote comes before any work starts. ADRIUM is licensed under CSLB #1136642, and the company holds EPA 608 Universal certification.

Pricing HVAC repair starts with a $99 diagnostic, credited toward the approved repair, which makes the service call $0 with a completed repair. Considering a new HVAC system? The in-home estimate visit is free.

Credentials Owner-operated by Andrew · CSLB #1136642 · EPA #1279674151528 · BBB A+ · Repairs carry a 1-year warranty; new-system coverage: 10 years manufacturer parts + 2 years labor. Warranty and callback details →