- About
- Air Conditioning
- Generators
-
Heating
-
Air Quality
-
Service Areas
- Call 24/7: (386) 361-5500
- Search Site
Gas and electric furnace diagnostics across East Central Florida. A furnace burns fuel inside your building, so a repair has to restore heat and confirm the system is operating safely, which means the heat exchanger, the flue and a carbon monoxide test.
The Straight Answer
Furnaces are less common than heat pumps in East Central Florida, and that is precisely why they fail when they do. A system that sits unused for months is asked to ignite for the first time during a cold front, and everything that degraded quietly in the interim surfaces at once. It is also why everyone discovers it in the same week, which is worth knowing when you are waiting for a slot.
The other thing that separates furnace work from the rest of HVAC is combustion. A furnace burns fuel inside an occupied building, so a repair that restores heat but skips the safety verification has done half a job. Heat exchanger evaluation, flue vent inspection and carbon monoxide testing are not optional extras on this equipment. They are the part you cannot check yourself and the part that matters most.
Electric furnaces carry none of the combustion risk but fail in their own way, through elements, sequencers and relays, and they draw heavily enough that circuit capacity becomes the thing to watch. We service both, and the two are diagnosed differently.
What We Get Called For
Four patterns cover most winter calls, and how you describe the symptom genuinely shortens the diagnosis.
The furnace refuses to light, a pilot light keeps going out, or a dirty flame sensor shuts it down seconds after starting. Ignition faults are the most common winter call by a distance.
The blower runs but the air is cold, which usually means combustion is not happening or is being shut down. Often a gas valve or sensor problem rather than anything wrong with the blower.
Breaker tripping during the heating cycle, limit switch tripping, or relay failure. These are protective devices doing their job, so the cause behind them is what needs finding.
New sounds at startup, or blower motor failure. Describe the noise precisely when you call, including when in the cycle it happens. It narrows the diagnosis considerably.
Two Different Machines
They share a cabinet and a blower and almost nothing else. Knowing which you have tells you what the visit should cover.
| What Differs | Gas furnace | Electric furnace |
|---|---|---|
| How heat is made | Burners igniting fuel inside the building | Resistance heating elements, no combustion at all |
| Usual faults | Ignition, flame sensor, gas valve, draft inducer, pressure switch | Heating elements, sequencers, relays and contactors |
| Safety-critical checks | Heat exchanger, flue vent, carbon monoxide test | Circuit capacity, connection integrity, element draw under load |
| The failure that matters most | A cracked heat exchanger, which is a carbon monoxide risk rather than a comfort problem | Repeated limit-switch trips from restricted airflow, which cook components over time |
| Before we hand it back | Combustion safety verified, every visit | Draw measured against circuit capacity under load |
How We Work
The heat comes back in the middle of this sequence. The last two steps are why the visit is not finished at that point.
Ignition tested through its full sequence rather than at a single point, and the flame sensor inspected and cleaned. A dirty sensor is a frequent and inexpensive cause of a furnace that lights then quits.
Valve operation and burner condition inspected directly, draft inducer motor tested, and the pressure switch verified, since it is the safety that confirms draft before ignition is permitted.
Blower motor and airflow inspected, because heat with no distribution is no heat, and relays and capacitors diagnosed under operating conditions rather than at rest.
The heat exchanger evaluated for cracks or damage, and the flue vent inspected to confirm combustion products are actually leaving the building. This is the safety-critical part of the visit.
Combustion safety verified by measurement before the system is handed back. On a gas appliance this is the step that decides whether the repair is finished, not whether the house is warm.
Common Questions
Because that is the first time in months it has been asked to work. Components degrade quietly while a system sits idle through a Florida summer. A flame sensor accumulates residue, a pressure switch sticks, a relay corrodes, and none of it shows until ignition is demanded.
It is also why everyone discovers it the same week, which is worth knowing when you are waiting for a slot. A pre-season check in the autumn is the way to avoid being in that queue.
That pattern points strongly at the flame sensor. Its job is to confirm a flame is present, and when residue builds on it the furnace cannot verify ignition, so it closes the gas valve as a safety response. That is the system working correctly, not failing.
Cleaning or replacing the sensor is one of the more common and less expensive furnace repairs. Repeated short-cycling can also indicate a draft or pressure switch fault, which is why it gets diagnosed rather than assumed.
The heat exchanger is the barrier between combustion gases and the air circulating through your building. If it cracks, that separation is compromised, which makes it a carbon monoxide risk rather than a performance problem.
It is why heat exchanger evaluation and carbon monoxide testing are part of our furnace diagnostics rather than an add-on, and why a furnace repair that skipped them has not really been completed. Ask whether they were done.
Please do not. A breaker tripping during the heating cycle, or a limit switch cutting out, is a protective device responding to a real condition: overheating, restricted airflow, or an electrical fault.
Repeatedly resetting it overrides the protection without removing the cause. The reset is not the fix, and each cycle puts more heat through components that were already telling you something was wrong.
A sound furnace with a specific fault is usually worth repairing, and we will say so rather than steering you toward equipment.
But when a Florida furnace reaches the end of its service life, most properties convert to a heat pump instead of replacing like for like. One system then covers both cooling and heating, which suits a climate where cooling is the dominant demand for most of the year.
Not the combustion ones. No burners, no flue, no carbon monoxide, so the safety picture is entirely different.
Electric systems fail through heating elements, sequencers, relays and blower motors, and they draw heavily, so electrical connections and breaker capacity matter more. We service both, and the diagnostic approach differs accordingly.
Connected Services
Most heating in this region is heat pump based, so the useful next pages sit on both sides.
A pre-season check is how you avoid discovering the fault on the coldest night alongside everyone else.
View Furnace MaintenanceWhen replacing the furnace itself is genuinely the right answer for the building.
View Furnace InstallationHeat pump heating, heat strips and controls, which is what most Florida properties actually run.
View Heating RepairThe options when the furnace has reached the end of dependable service, including conversion.
View Heating ReplacementWhat most properties convert to, since one system then covers cooling and heating together.
View Heat Pump InstallationRestricted airflow is behind a good share of limit-switch trips and overheating faults.
View DuctworkWorth ruling out first. A control fault presents exactly like a heating fault and costs far less.
View ThermostatsThe full range of Total Comfort heating work in one place.
View Heating ServicesWhere We Serve
Furnace Repair
Licensed since 1976 under Florida CAC029376. Gas and electric systems, heat exchanger evaluated, flue vent inspected, carbon monoxide tested before handover.
From emergency AC repairs and refrigerant leak detection to full HVAC system replacement, ductwork installation, heat pump service, and indoor air quality solutions, our HVAC technicians are ready to respond.
If you are experiencing no cooling, system failure, electrical issues, or AC leaks, call now for priority dispatch at 386-361-5500.