Furnace and Heating Repair in Rocky Mount, NC

Common Heating Problems in Rocky Mount Homes

Most heating calls we run in Rocky Mount and across Nash and Edgecombe counties start with one of these symptoms. Each one points to a different part of the system, so tell us which you are seeing when you call.

• No heat at all. Check the thermostat and the breaker first. On a gas furnace the usual cause is a failed igniter or thermocouple; on an electric furnace, a failed sequencer or burned-out heat strips; on a heat pump, an outdoor unit iced solid.
• Blowing cool or lukewarm air. A heat pump in a defrost cycle or low on charge, or a furnace tripping its limit switch on a dirty filter. If it is the heat pump, see heat pump repair in Rocky Mount.
• Short cycling. A clogged filter, an oversized unit, or a dirty flame sensor that drops the burner a few seconds after it lights.
• Burning smell at first start. Dust burning off the heat exchanger for a few minutes each fall is normal. A smell that persists is a call.
• Yellow pilot light instead of blue. Incomplete combustion. Shut the furnace off and call.
• Carbon monoxide detector alerts. Shut the system down, ventilate the house, and call us from outside.
• Unusual noises like banging, whistling, or rattling. Delayed ignition, a blower wheel out of balance, or loose ductwork.
• Rising power bill with the same thermostat setting. A heat pump leaning on its backup heat strips, or a furnace losing heat through a failing heat exchanger.

Gas and Electric Furnace Repair

On gas furnaces we repair and replace igniters, flame sensors, gas valves, inducer motors, pressure switches and control boards, and every gas repair ends with a heat exchanger inspection and a carbon monoxide check at the registers. On electric furnaces the common failures are heat strips and sequencers, blower motors, control boards and thermostat wiring. Oil furnaces are less common around Rocky Mount, but we service them too.

Older South Rocky Mount and Tar River-corridor homes tend to have gas furnaces, and many are at the age where a cracked heat exchanger becomes a real risk, which is why the combustion check is part of every visit. We are an Armstrong Air Pro Team dealer and repair Carrier, Rheem, Daikin, Allied and all major makes. If your furnace still runs but has not been looked at since last winter, a furnace tune-up is the right visit to book.

Heat Pump Not Heating? Start Here

Most Rocky Mount homes built since the 1980s heat with a heat pump, so a "furnace" call from an Englewood or Westhaven ranch with a 1990s system is usually a heat pump call. The air handler inside the house holds the blower and a set of electric heat strips. Those strips are the auxiliary heat, the "EM HEAT" setting on your thermostat, and they are the backup, not the main heat. January lows in the 20s-30s are exactly where a heat pump leans on its backup strips, which is when a weak system shows itself. For defrost, reversing-valve and refrigerant faults, see heat pump repair in Rocky Mount, NC.