Furnace repair in Harrison and nearby towns

Signs your furnace needs a repair

A furnace usually gives warning before it quits. If you notice any of the problems below, it is worth having a technician look before the coldest weeks arrive. Write down what you see and hear, because those details help the contractor narrow it down.

• Cold or lukewarm air from the vents while the thermostat calls for heat
• The burners light, then shut off after a few seconds
• The furnace turns on and off every few minutes (short cycling)
• Loud banging, squealing or grinding when it starts
• A blinking light or error code on the control board
• Higher heating bills with no change in how you use the house
• A yellow or flickering burner flame on a gas furnace

What usually goes wrong

On gas furnaces, the most common failures are the hot surface igniter, the flame sensor, the inducer motor, the pressure switch and the control board. On oil furnaces, the burner nozzle, filter, ignition parts and the cad cell are frequent culprits, and an oil burner benefits from yearly cleaning. On any forced-air system, the blower motor and its capacitor do a lot of work and wear out over time.

A dirty filter is behind more service calls than most people think. It restricts airflow, the furnace overheats and a safety limit shuts the burners off. Checking and changing the filter is the one task most homeowners can do safely. Anything involving gas, oil lines, burners or wiring belongs to a trained technician.

Older homes and older systems

Much of the housing in Harrison was built from the mid 1940s through the 1950s, and nearby towns like Scarsdale, Larchmont and Bronxville have even older homes. A house that age may have a furnace that was added decades after it was built, ducts that were squeezed into closets and a flue that was sized for an older, less efficient unit. A contractor who works on older Westchester homes will check venting and combustion air, not only the part that failed.

Safety comes before the repair

If you smell gas, or your carbon monoxide alarm goes off, leave the house and call 911 or your gas utility's emergency line from outside. Do not try to find the source. Once the house is cleared, a contractor can repair the cause. Make sure you have working CO alarms near sleeping areas, especially with fuel-burning equipment in the basement.

How to send a request

Use the estimate form. Tell us your town, your fuel type if you know it, the brand and age of the furnace if you can see a label, and what it is doing. If the house has no heat, say so, and see our no-heat requests page. We pass the request to an independent contractor, who contacts you to set up a visit and gives you a price. You decide whether to go ahead.

Questions homeowners ask