Furnace Repair
in the Capital Region, NY

A furnace that starts and shuts off after a few minutes is short cycling. The common causes are a clogged filter or blocked return that makes it overheat and trip the high-limit switch, a dirty flame sensor that cannot prove the flame is lit, a blocked vent or condensate drain on a high-efficiency furnace, or a thermostat problem. Replace a dirty filter and check the vents. If it keeps shutting off, stop resetting it and call us. See why a furnace blows cold air for related causes.

Cost depends on the part and the labor, which is why the diagnosis comes first. Cleaning a flame sensor or fitting an ignitor is a smaller job than a blower motor, control board or heat exchanger. After that you see one flat price and decide; hourly billing is not how we work, and estimates are free. On an old furnace that is not worth repairing, we tell you. For new-furnace pricing, see our heating replacement cost guide.

Expect the diagnosis first, then the fix. Cleaning a flame sensor or swapping a weak ignitor is typically a single-visit job; a failed control board or blower motor can mean waiting on a part. You hear the plan and the price before we start, and the visit runs inside our Monday-to-Friday hours.

Age and the kind of failure decide it. A failed ignitor, flame sensor or blower motor on a furnace that has otherwise run well is a sensible repair. A cracked heat exchanger is different: it can let combustion gases into the air you breathe, so the furnace stays off until it is dealt with, and on an older unit that usually means replacement. A furnace past 15 years old that keeps failing is also a replacement candidate. We show you the diagnosis and the flat repair price either way. See furnace replacement.

Check that the thermostat is set to heat and has power, that the filter is clean, and that the furnace breaker and the service switch near the unit are on. If a breaker trips again after one reset, stop. If you smell gas or a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, leave the house and call your gas utility or 911 first. The steps are in the section above, and heating system repair covers what to do when nothing works.

Most furnaces built in recent decades light with a hot-surface ignitor or a spark and have no pilot to relight. If yours has a standing pilot, follow the lighting instructions on the unit label or in the manual. If you smell gas, do not try: leave the house and call your gas utility or 911. If the pilot will not stay lit, the cause is often a worn thermocouple, a dirty flame sensor or a draft problem, and that is a repair call.

Yes to both. A furnace can almost always be repaired when the problem is a part, such as an ignitor, sensor, blower motor or control board. Our crew repairs furnaces as well as plumbing, so you call one company. Ask anyone to see the license: ours is City of Albany #PLBG21-147, backed by New York insurance and a family business that opened in 2006.

Yes, whichever fuel feeds the furnace gets the same diagnostic and the same flat-price process, across the Capital Region.

Yes — Mon–Fri 7:30 AM–6:00 PM we prioritize same-day no-heat calls.

Call us if you have no heat or weak airflow, short cycling (the furnace keeps kicking on and off), banging or rattling noises, a burning or rotten-egg smell, or a yellow burner flame instead of a steady blue one. Catching these early usually means a smaller repair before you lose heat on the coldest night of a Capital Region winter.

If you smell gas, your carbon monoxide detector goes off, or you see soot or a yellow burner flame, shut the furnace off and call us right away, because a cracked heat exchanger or poor combustion can leak carbon monoxide. Every gas, oil, or propane furnace we repair gets a combustion and safety check so it’s running clean and safe before we leave.

It helps catch wearing parts such as the igniter, flame sensor and blower before the coldest week. Our maintenance plan includes a yearly furnace tune-up. The checklist in furnace maintenance before winter shows what to look at.