Heating Repair in Calhoun, GA, Diagnosed by Measurement

The Building Science

The building-science truth: heat that won't move

A heating system has two jobs — make heat (or pull it from outside, with a heat pump) and move it through the house. When the heat won't come on, one of those jobs has failed. A good diagnosis figures out which, instead of assuming the whole unit is bad and reaching for a quote on a new one.

Common causes on a gas furnace

• Failed ignitor or dirty flame sensor. A cracked ignitor won't light the burner; a sooty flame sensor makes the furnace shut the burner off on safety after a few seconds. Both are common, low-cost repairs.
• Clogged filter or restricted airflow. Starve a furnace of airflow and it overheats and trips its high-limit safety — the fan runs but no heat. Often the cheapest fix in the trade.
• Capacitor, blower, or control board. Electrical parts that stop the burner or blower while the rest of the system keeps trying.
• Gas supply or safety lockout. A pressure or valve issue, or a safety that has locked the system out for a reason worth finding.

Common causes on a heat pump

• Low refrigerant charge. A heat pump pulls heat out of cold outdoor air. If the charge is low it can't move enough heat and the house never keeps up on a cold night.
• Reversing valve or defrost issue. The valve that switches a heat pump between heating and cooling, or a defrost cycle stuck on, can leave you with cool air.
• Auxiliary/emergency heat not engaging. The backup strips that help on the coldest days failing to come on.

Safety

Gas safety comes first

With gas heat, we don't cut corners. A furnace that short-cycles, smells like burning, or keeps tripping its safeties is telling you something. As part of a no-heat or short-cycling diagnosis we check combustion and the heat exchanger — because a cracked heat exchanger can leak combustion gases into your home. If we find a real safety problem we'll tell you plainly. If it's a simple repair, we'll get your heat back, often the same visit.

The Anderson Difference

Why Anderson is different: we measure

Most shops can only look at the box. Anderson is a building-science company — we run six blower doors and six duct blasters and treat your house as one connected system. So when a heat pump 'won't keep up,' we can prove whether it's a charge problem, an airflow problem, or simply ductwork leaking your heat into the attic — and fix the real cause instead of selling you a system you don't need. We repair first and replace only when the measurements say so.