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Furnace Repair & Replacement in Birmingham, AL
A furnace in Alabama sits idle most of the year, then gets asked to work on the coldest night of the winter. That is usually when they fail. Precision Services repairs and replaces gas and electric furnaces across Birmingham, McCalla, Bessemer and Hueytown, on every major brand, whether we installed it or not. We are licensed for gas work, our line answers 24/7, and you get an upfront price before anything starts.
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Furnace Repair in Birmingham
Most furnace calls come down to a part, not the whole system. The ones we run most often: no heat at all, a furnace that starts and then shuts off after a minute or two, a blower that runs without ever warming the house, ignition and pilot faults, and thermostats that never call for heat in the first place.
Because our crews are in-house and multi-trade, one call covers it. If the fault turns out to be electrical, such as a tripped breaker or a bad limit circuit, that is the same crew. If you heat with a heat pump rather than a furnace, see our heat pump repair and installation instead.
No Heat? Check These Before You Call
- Thermostat. Set to Heat, and set above room temperature. Check its batteries.
- Filter. A clogged filter chokes airflow, and many furnaces shut themselves down on a high-limit switch when that happens.
- Service switch. Furnaces have a switch that looks like a light switch, usually on or near the unit. It gets flipped by accident more often than you would think. Check the breaker too.
- Gas supply. If other gas appliances in the house are also out, the problem is the supply, not the furnace.
- Vents and returns. Blocked or closed vents make a furnace short cycle.
If it still will not run, call us. Do not keep resetting a furnace that locks out again and again, because the lockout is protecting something.
Gas Furnace Safety: Cracked Heat Exchangers and Gas Leaks
The heat exchanger is the metal wall between the burner flame and the air blown into your house. When it cracks, combustion gases, including carbon monoxide, can reach that air. A cracked heat exchanger is a safety problem rather than a comfort problem, and a furnace with one should be shut down until it is repaired or replaced.
Warning signs worth taking seriously: a burner flame that is yellow and lazy rather than crisp and blue, soot around the furnace, a strong smell when the heat runs, or people in the house getting headaches or feeling unwell only when the heat is on. Every home with gas heat should have working carbon monoxide detectors.
We are licensed for gas work and we do not cut corners on it. If we find a cracked heat exchanger, we show you what we found and give you both the repair and the replacement numbers.
If you smell gas, leave the house first and call from outside. Do not flip switches on or off on your way out. Call your gas utility, then call us.
No heat? We answer 24/7.
Upfront pricing before any work starts.
Furnace Problems We Repair
Ignition and flame sensor faults. The most common failures on a modern furnace. A dirty flame sensor will light the burner and then shut it down seconds later.
Short cycling. The furnace starts, runs briefly, and stops. Usually airflow, a dirty flame sensor, or a safety switch doing its job.
Blower and motor problems. Air that never gets warm, or no air movement at all.
Limit and pressure switches that trip and lock the furnace out.
Condensate problems on high-efficiency furnaces, where a blocked drain shuts the system down.
Cracked heat exchangers, handled as the safety issue they are.
Thermostat and control faults, including smart thermostats wired wrong for the system they are running.
Not sure what it is? Call us.
Repair or Replace Your Furnace?
Our rule of thumb: under 10 years old, repair it. Past 15 with a major failure, especially a cracked heat exchanger or a failed blower assembly, replacement usually wins. In between, it comes down to the repair cost against the condition of the rest of the unit. We show you both numbers and let you decide, rather than pushing a system you do not need yet.
Furnaces generally last around 15 to 20 years, and often longer here simply because they run so little. That cuts both ways: a furnace in Alabama can be old and still healthy, or old and quietly unsafe. The heat exchanger is what decides which. We offer multiple easy payment options: Wells Fargo, GreenSky and our in-house 90-day plan.
Furnace Installation & Replacement
When a furnace is past saving, we size the replacement to the house rather than matching whatever was there before. We will also tell you honestly whether a furnace is still the right answer for your home. Most houses around Birmingham do well on a heat pump, some do better on gas, and some are best on a dual-fuel setup that uses both. We will tell you which one you have, and what each actually costs to run here rather than a national average. For heat pumps and whole-system replacements, see our heating and heat pump installation services.
Come summer it is the other half of the same system. If the cooling side is the problem, see our AC repair page.
Emergency Heating Service, 24/7
No heat on the coldest night of the year is a real emergency, especially with young kids, elderly family or pets in the house. Our line answers 24/7, and because our crews are in-house, one call gets you the diagnosis and the repair. Call (205) 807-6319.
A Fall Tune-Up Prevents Most of This
Nearly every no-heat call we run in January could have been caught in October. A heating tune-up covers the burners and flame sensor, the heat exchanger inspection that matters most on gas heat, the blower, the electrical connections, the filter and the safety controls. Book it before the first cold snap, when everyone calls at once. See our HVAC maintenance options.
On the team
Chris Guarnieri
Lead HVAC Technician
Chris has been a trusted member of the Precision Services team for over 10 years, bringing decades of HVAC experience and expertise to our customers.
Serving Birmingham, McCalla, Bessemer & Hueytown
Our shop is in McCalla, minutes from Bessemer, Hueytown, Bucksville and the Tannehill area, and straight up the I-459 and I-20/59 corridor into Birmingham. On the first hard freeze of the year everybody calls at once, and closer trucks are the difference between tonight and Thursday.
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FAQ
Furnace Repair FAQs
The usual causes are a furnace locking out on a safety switch before it fully lights, a dirty flame sensor shutting the burner down seconds after ignition, or a thermostat set to run the fan continuously, so you feel room-temperature air between heating cycles. If the burner lights and then quits, stop resetting it and call us.
The heat exchanger separates the burner flame from the air blown into your house. If it cracks, combustion gases including carbon monoxide can get into that air. It is a safety problem rather than a comfort problem, so the furnace should be shut down until it is repaired or replaced. Every home with gas heat should have working carbon monoxide detectors.
That is short cycling, and it is usually the furnace protecting itself. A clogged filter or blocked vents restrict airflow and trip the high-limit switch, or a dirty flame sensor tells the furnace the burner is not lit. Change the filter and open the vents first. If it keeps happening, it needs a technician.
Usually around 15 to 20 years, and often longer here because Alabama winters are mild enough that a furnace runs very little. Age alone does not mean it needs replacing. The condition of the heat exchanger is what decides whether an older furnace is still safe to run.
Yes. We are licensed for gas work and we repair and replace both gas and electric furnaces, on all major brands, whether we installed them or not. If you ever smell gas, leave the house first, call your gas utility from outside, and then call us.