HVAC Repair in San Rafael, CA
If your system quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Marin County will get in touch.
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Nine months of heat, mild summers, and a furnace that depends on power
San Rafael barely asks for cooling. Summer afternoons average 71°F, mild enough that the AC hardly runs. The furnace is the machine doing the work here, October through June, nine months of the year.
Winter nights average 43°F, cold enough that the burner is lighting and shutting off night after night all winter. Each start puts wear on the igniter and the flame sensor, and those are usually the first parts to fail. When they do, the furnace won't light, or it lights and then shuts itself off partway through the cycle.
Most homes here heat with gas, but a gas furnace still needs electricity to run its blower and control board. Marin County has recorded 122 damaging wind events over the past ten years, the kind of storm that knocks out power. When the power drops, the heat stops too, even with the gas still on.
- 9 months
- October through June, your system heats
- 43°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 71°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
A new furnace and air conditioner would cut about $80 a year off heating and cooling for a typical Marin County home.
Estimates for a typical Marin County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, California fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when one part has failed.
Replacement makes sense when the furnace's heat exchanger is cracked, the air conditioner's compressor has failed, or repairs keep coming.
California requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
California licenses HVAC contractors through the Contractors State License Board. That license covers the contractor as a business, not each individual job, so the same license applies whether the visit is a small repair or a full system replacement.
For a repair to your heating and cooling system, that license is what stands behind the work. Whoever comes out to fix it should be able to show a state license number tied to their name or their company, on file with the CSLB.
Sources: California Legislative Counsel · Contractors State License Board
- Why is my heat not working?
- Most often it is the igniter or the flame sensor, since those wear out before anything else in a gas furnace. If the thermostat display is blank or dark, check your breaker panel first, since a tripped breaker is the quickest thing to rule out. Gas furnaces will also lock out if the flame sensor is coated with residue and cannot detect a flame, and that shows up as short cycles where the furnace tries to start, then shuts off. With 66.6% of homes here heating with gas, and heat needed October through June, a furnace that will not start is worth calling in soon rather than waiting.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- Check the air filter first, since a clogged one chokes off airflow and the coil inside can freeze over. If the filter looks fine, look at the outdoor unit and clear away anything blocking it, leaves, a fence panel, anything crowding the sides. A refrigerant leak will also keep a system running without cooling, but that is not something to test at home, since it takes gauges and a licensed contractor to find and fix. Warm air blowing from the vents while the unit runs nonstop is the clearest sign something past the filter needs a closer look.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it is set to heat or cool as needed and the batteries are not dead. Next, check the breaker panel for anything tripped, since a reset breaker sometimes solves the problem outright. Look at the air filter and swap it if it is gray or clogged, since restricted airflow causes problems that look like bigger failures. If the outdoor unit is involved, clear away leaves or debris around it. Past that, a licensed contractor has the tools to diagnose what a filter and a breaker cannot fix, and in California, any HVAC contractor doing the work should hold a state license through the Contractors State License Board.