The independent heating and cooling company across the Willamette Valley and northwest Oregon
Heating Season Prep, Step by Step
You flipped the thermostat to heat for the first time since spring, and something felt off. Maybe a burning smell. Maybe a rattle. Maybe nothing happened at all. Before the first real cold snap hits, there are a few things worth checking yourself and a few worth having us look at. Here is what we see every October across Oregon and Washington.
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By our service team · vetted by the techs who do this daily
What the off-season does to a heating system
A furnace or heat pump that sat idle for five months comes back with dust on the heat exchanger, dry bearings, and a filter that quietly loaded up while the AC ran all summer. In our region the bigger factor is moisture. Crawlspaces and garages stay damp through the wet months, so control boards, flame sensors and contactors corrode slowly where nobody looks. Rodents chew low-voltage wire in fall as they move indoors. None of that shows up until you ask for heat, which is why the first cold morning generates more heating repair calls than any other day of the year. Running the system once in September tells you a lot for free.
Which failures spike, and when
Early October is ignition season. Flame sensors coated with residue, weak igniters and pressure switches with condensate in the tubing all fail on the first run cycle. Late October and November bring blower motor and capacitor calls as the system moves from short cycles to long ones. For heat pumps, the calls shift in December and January. Wet cold is hard on defrost. If the outdoor coil ices over and the board or sensor cannot clear it, you get a solid block of ice and no heat indoors. That is our most common winter furnace repair equivalent on the heat pump side, and it is usually a sensor, a board or a reversing valve, not a dead system.
The checks you can safely do yourself
Start with the thermostat. Fresh batteries, set to heat, set well above room temperature. If it is a smart thermostat, confirm the schedule is not holding a low setpoint. Check the breaker for both the indoor unit and the outdoor unit. A tripped breaker is worth resetting once. If it trips again, stop and call us. Change the filter. After smoke season most filters we pull are grey and loaded, and a restricted filter causes overheating limits and short cycling. Walk the outdoor unit and clear leaves, needles and blackberry growth back a couple of feet. Then open every supply and return vent in the house, including the ones in rooms you keep closed.
What we check that you should not
Anything involving gas, refrigerant or high voltage is ours. On a gas furnace we inspect the heat exchanger, test the igniter and flame sensor, read gas pressure, check draft and confirm the safeties actually shut the unit down. On a heat pump we measure refrigerant performance, test the defrost cycle, check the reversing valve and look at the amp draw on the compressor and blower. We also look at duct connections and static pressure, because a system that is fighting the ductwork wears out parts on a schedule you can predict. If you smell gas or a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, leave the house first, call 911 or your gas utility from outside, then call us.
Timing the visit, and what to expect after
Late September through early October is the useful window. Book after the first freeze and you are in line behind everyone whose system already quit. A pre-season visit finds the worn capacitor or the cracking igniter while parts are still in stock and you are not sitting in a cold house waiting. After the visit you should know three things: what condition the system is in, what is likely to need replacing in the next year or two, and whether your filtration is doing anything for indoor air quality. We serve homeowners across Oregon and Washington for heating repair, heater repair, air conditioning repair and IAQ work, and the pre-season check covers both sides on a heat pump.
Heating Season Prep, Step by Step — fast answers
Why does my furnace smell like burning the first time I turn it on?
Usually dust burning off the heat exchanger and burners after months of no use. It should fade within twenty or thirty minutes. If it smells like plastic, hot metal or gas, shut the system off and call us. A gas smell means leave the house first.
Is a pre-season check worth it if the system worked fine last winter?
Often, yes. Igniters, capacitors and flame sensors degrade gradually rather than failing outright, so a system can run all winter and still be close to the end. Finding that in October beats finding it in January.
My heat pump has ice on the outdoor coil. Is that normal?
Light frost that clears on its own is normal in our wet winters. A solid shell of ice that stays for hours means the defrost cycle is not working, usually a sensor or board. Turn the system to emergency heat and call us.
How it works
- Step 1
Tell us the symptom
Call or fill in the quote form. Describe the noise, the smell, the temperature, and when it started. That detail helps us bring the right parts and gives you an honest idea of the visit ahead.
- Step 2
We diagnose on site
A technician checks the thermostat, airflow, electrical connections, refrigerant behaviour and the outdoor unit. We tell you what failed and why, in plain language, before anyone reaches for a part or a price.
- Step 3
You choose the repair
We lay out the fix, any parts on order, and what happens if you wait. Once you agree, we do the work and confirm the system holds temperature before we pack up and leave.
- A real person answers
- Open 7 days
- Written quote before work starts
Why homeowners call us
- Heat pumps are our normalIn this region heat pumps outnumber furnaces, so defrost boards, reversing valves and short cycling in wet weather are everyday work for us. We know how these systems behave in a cold December rain, not just on a test bench.
- Wet winter defrost problemsIce on the outdoor coil, a unit that runs and runs without warming the house, puddles that refreeze under the pad. We trace whether it is a sensor, a stuck valve, drainage, or airflow, then fix the actual cause.
- Filtration after smoke seasonWildfire smoke turned indoor air quality into a real conversation here. We look at filter fit, return sizing and IAQ options that your blower can actually push air through, rather than choking the system with the wrong media.
- We explain before we chargeYou get the diagnosis, the options and the trade-offs before work starts. If a repair is not worth it on an old system, we say so. No pressure, no jargon dumped on you at the door.
- All major brands, gas & electricOne independent crew for Carrier, Trane, Lennox, Goodman, Rheem and more.
- Straight answersNot worth fixing? We say that out loud, and often it saves you the visit fee.
About this guide
Checked everything on the list and it still acts up?
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- A real person answers
- Open 7 days
- Written quotes
- All major brands
- Gas & electric
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