Heating & Furnace Repair in Richmond, TX

Usually it's one of three things: a dirty flame sensor, a clogged filter choking the airflow, or a thermostat set to "on" instead of "auto." If the furnace lights and then quits within three to seven seconds, that's the flame sensor failing to prove flame. Before you call, swap the filter and make sure the thermostat is on "heat" and "auto." If it still won't hold a flame, stop cycling it (you're just dumping gas) and call (346) 681-2625.

Most often, yes. A dust-coated flame sensor can't sense the flame, so the control board closes the gas valve within seconds to stay safe. After a Fort Bend furnace sits idle all summer, this is the single most common no-heat cause we see. It's a $150 to $400 clean or replacement, not a new furnace.

A cracked heat exchanger is a genuine carbon monoxide hazard, but it's also misdiagnosed a lot, so verify before you spend thousands. Ask for a photo or video of the crack, a written report, and a measured CO reading, then get a second opinion from a separately licensed TACL contractor. When we find one, we show it to you on camera and you keep the footage. If we're wrong, the repair is free.

Most Richmond no-heat repairs run $150 to $700, since the usual cause is a flame sensor or an ignitor. Our diagnostic is a flat $89, credited in full toward any repair we finish that same visit. A fair shop tells you the part and the price before it starts, and it never stacks a diagnostic fee on top of a full-price repair with no credit back.

Repair it if the fix runs less than about half the cost of a new system and the heat exchanger is sound. Replace it if the exchanger is cracked, the unit is past 15 to 20 years, or the repairs keep piling up. We put both numbers in writing and let you make the call, instead of defaulting you straight to replacement.

Your furnace sits idle seven or eight months a year here while the AC does the work. Over that summer, dust cakes the flame sensor, the hot-surface ignitor turns brittle, and humidity off the Brazos corridor eats at the inducer, so it fails the first time you ask it to fire. That's why the first sub-40°F morning brings the heaviest no-heat calls of the year. A pre-cold-front tune-up catches those parts before they leave you stranded.

For Richmond's mild winters (a January low near 46°F, only a few sub-32°F nights), a heat pump handles most of the season efficiently. Older Pecan Grove homes usually run gas furnaces; the newer Aliana and Candela homes lean on heat pumps or dual-fuel. Dual-fuel adds a gas backup for the occasional hard freeze, which is why it got popular here after Winter Storm Uri.

A light, dusty smell for the first 15 to 30 minutes of the season is normal, just dust burning off the heat exchanger. A smell that sticks around, especially burning plastic, hot electrical, or sulfur and rotten eggs, is not. Shut the system down and call us. If it's the gas smell, call the gas company first.

Below the balance point (around 32°F), some auxiliary heat is normal, that's the system doing its job. But aux heat running constantly in mild weather points to a stuck reversing valve, a low refrigerant charge, or a bad defrost board. Those are fixable repairs, not automatically a new system, so it's worth a service call before the next bill lands.

In a climate where the furnace sits idle most of the year, yes, a pre-cold-front tune-up earns its keep. It catches the exact parts that fail first (the flame sensor and ignitor) and includes a heat-exchanger safety check. Skipping it is what turns a $150 part into a no-heat emergency on the coldest morning of the year. You can schedule a seasonal HVAC tune-up before the first front rolls in.