Furnace & Heating Repair · Bay Area

What we do

A no-heat call on a cold Bay Area morning is the most common winter job and the most common over-quote. The repair is usually one part. We diagnose to the failure and price the part, not the furnace.

The truck carries the parts that fail: hot-surface ignitors, flame sensors, gas valves, pressure switches, and draft-inducer motors for the common cabinets. We test combustion and verify the heat exchanger is intact on every no-heat call, because a cracked exchanger is a carbon-monoxide safety issue that we will not let a customer run.

Typical repairs and what they cost

We post real numbers so you are not surprised at the door. Final price depends on the model, but these are the ranges we actually charge:

• Hot-surface ignitor: $200 to $350. The most common no-heat cause. The ceramic ignitor cracks or burns out and the furnace cannot light.
• Flame sensor: $150 to $200. Furnace lights, then shuts off after a few seconds. A dirty or failed sensor cannot prove the flame, so the board kills the gas as a safety. Cleaning works sometimes, replacement is the durable fix.
• Draft-inducer motor: $400 to $700. The furnace tries to start, the pressure switch never closes because the inducer is not pulling combustion air, and you get a lockout. Bearing failure or a seized motor.

Common no-heat part	Typical repair cost	What you see
Hot-surface ignitor	$200 to $350	No ignition, furnace will not light
Flame sensor	$150 to $200	Lights, then shuts off after a few seconds
Draft-inducer motor	$400 to $700	Tries to start, locks out before ignition

A Draft Inducer, Replaced

Common issues. Typical repair.

Furnace lights then shuts off. Flame sensor or a flame-rectification fault. We clean or replace the sensor and confirm a stable microamp signal on a full cycle before we leave.

No ignition at all. Cracked hot-surface ignitor, most often. We confirm with a resistance check rather than swapping parts on a guess. Less commonly a failed gas valve or a control board.

Furnace short-cycles. Overheating from low airflow (dirty filter, blocked return, failing blower) trips the high-limit and shuts the burner down repeatedly. We find the airflow restriction instead of resetting the limit and walking away.

Blower runs constantly, no heat. Control-board fan fault or a stuck fan relay. We meter the board outputs to separate a board failure from a thermostat wiring problem.

Wall and floor heaters. Older Bay Area homes still run wall furnaces and floor heaters. We service the ignition, thermocouple, and gas valve on these, and when one is past safe repair we will tell you and price a code-compliant replacement.

Heat exchanger and carbon monoxide

On every furnace call we inspect the heat exchanger and check combustion. A cracked exchanger can leak carbon monoxide into the home. If we find one, we red-tag the unit, explain why, and price the repair or replacement. We will not patch around a safety failure to save a customer money in the short term.

Our HVAC division

Heating is the focus of our sister brand, Bay Area HVAC Service. Same owner, same EPA and CSLB credentials, same technician on the truck.