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Heat pumps, furnaces and the room that never works
The same instruments we take into an office floor, and the same written price before anything starts. Bellevue, Issaquah, Newcastle and the rest of the Eastside.
Most of what we fit here is a heat pump
Western Washington suits them. Mild winters, expensive resistance heat, and a summer that now gets hot enough that cooling is no longer a luxury item.
What matters is sizing it to the house rather than to the old furnace, getting the ducts to carry the air it needs, and setting it up so the backup heat does not come on every time the weather turns.
- ServiceCoil condition, refrigerant behaviour, defrost, auxiliary heat staging and airflow — measured, not assumed.
- RepairDiagnosed and priced in writing. If a repair is not worth doing on the age of the equipment, we say so.
- ReplacementSized from the house, not the nameplate on what is there now, and quoted with what the ducts need as part of the price.
What people actually ring about
- One room is always wrong
The bonus room over the garage, the bedroom at the end of the run, the office in a converted corner. Usually duct length and return air rather than a system that is too small. We measure before recommending anything.
- The heat pump blows cool air
Sometimes that is normal — a heat pump delivers air cooler than a furnace does, and it defrosts. Sometimes it is not. The difference is worth knowing before you pay anyone to look at it.
- The bill jumped and nothing changed
Backup electric heat running when it does not need to is the most common cause we find. It is a settings problem more often than an equipment problem.
- The furnace smells for the first hour
Normal at the start of the season, not normal in February. We check the heat exchanger and the flue rather than telling you it is dust.
- The house is stuffy since the windows went in
A tighter house needs a deliberate way of bringing fresh air in. We measure what the house is getting before suggesting anything be fitted.
Two things we do not put in a queue
- A carbon monoxide alarm going offGet everybody out and call 911 or the gas utility from outside. Do not wait for us, and do not go back in to open windows first.
- A smell of gasSame answer. Out first, call from outside, and leave the appliance alone.
Once the emergency services have made it safe, we will come and find out what caused it. Those two are the only calls we take out of order.
Half the problem is usually under the floor
A great deal of the heating a house pays for in this area is delivered through a crawlspace, and a fair amount of it does not arrive. Disconnected boots, crushed flex, insulation that has slid off, and joints that were taped once in 1994.
We measure airflow at the registers before and after, so the work has a number attached to it rather than a promise.