Furnace Repair

Furnace Repair in Warren

Getting Furnace Problems Handled Quickly in Warren or Grosse Pointe

McCarver Mechanical is well known for providing high quality furnace repair services. Our reviews reflect the many happy customers we've made since we started in 2010Grosse Pointe, Warren, and St. Clair Shores.

Setting up a furnace tune-up with McCarver Mechanical Heating & Cooling is fast and easy. Your year-round comfort is as important to us as it is to you and your family.

Call us at (586) 489-3884 today to schedule your furnace tune-up in Warren.

Signs Your Furnace in Warren Has a Problem

There are times when something goes wrong in the heating process. Though this sometimes leads to an obvious problem—a complete furnace breakdown—this isn’t always the case. Much of the time, the signs you need to call a Warren HVAC contractor are much more subtle. To prevent big problems from snowballing into larger ones, it’s important to be on the lookout for the following:

  • Weird Smells: When you first turn your furnace on for the year, you might notice a musty smell. This is typically dust burning off that settled over the months your furnace sat idle. This will dissipate as the unit operates and isn’t anything to be concerned about. If you notice an odor that suddenly appears or refuses to go away, however, it’s time to call a Warren HVAC professional.
  • Odd Noises: Is your furnace banging or making some other kind of noise? This can be the result of numerous issues with the unit and is best diagnosed by a heating repair expert. Call (586) 489-3884 to schedule a furnace repair in Warren and Grosse Pointe .
  • More Service Calls: Every furnace in the Grosse Pointe or Warren area will have a part fail and need service in its life. In fact, one out of four people in the US will have an HVAC technician in their home each year. But if you’re making multiple calls in a heating season, it’s a sign you’ve been propping up a system that is aging out. Note that service calls don’t include preventative furnace maintenance visits.
  • Climbing Utility Bills: There are many reasons your electric or gas bills can rise. Cooler temperatures are an obvious reason. But, if your fuel usage suddenly increases dramatically, you probably should have our Warren HVAC experts take a look. This increased cost often indicates a furnace that's being pushed past its limit.
  • Visual Rust: While some amount of rust is expected with age, excessive amounts—especially on the flue—can be a sign of improper venting. If a roof or plumbing leak is causing furnace corrosion, it’s not just an eyesore. It can be dangerous. If the system rusts through to the heat exchanger, your home could be contaminated with deadly carbon monoxide. So, if you notice an issue with furnace rust, give McCarver Mechanical Heating & Cooling a call.
  • Frequent Cycling: If your furnace is constantly turning on and off, there’s something stopping the unit from working properly. Unfortunately, this can be difficult to diagnose due to a variety of potential causes. To get the problem located and fixed quickly, rely on our Warren heating repair experts.
  • Start-Up Problems: Does your furnace not turn on when it drops below the indicated temperature on your thermostat? Are you hearing clicking noises on start-up? These issues often signal an upcoming furnace breakdown. So, if you ever notice them, reach out to McCarver Mechanical Heating & Cooling by phone or form.

Fortunately, no matter the scope or size of the problem, McCarver Mechanical Heating & Cooling can handle your residential furnace repair. Though we do most of our work in St. Clair Shores, Grosse Pointe, and Warren, we are also well known and trusted throughout the surrounding areas.

Why Furnaces Fail: Top 6 Causes

Knowing which parts of their furnace are likely to fail is helpful to homeowners, particularly when calling to report a heating problem. Fixing heating systems in Warren, often involves the following culprits. Being aware of them could help you avoid a service call:

  1. Dirty Filters: If it's been more than a few weeks since you changed out your furnace filter, you should check it, more so if you have pets. Heating systems pulls in dust, dander, and dirt when running. The furnace filter helps protect the furnace's mechanical parts from these pollutants. A clogged filter strains your heating system due to reduced airflow. Regularly changing filters improves both efficiency and air quality.
  2. Faulty Thermostats: A thermostat queues the furnace to turn on and off as needed to maintain the temperature to which it's set. If the thermostat is malfunctioning, you'll have a hard time staying comfortable. Things to check where the thermostat may be at fault include replacing any batteries (if yours requires them). Also, ensure your thermostat is set to HEAT with the run method on AUTO.
  3. Ignition Failure: The pilot light or surface ignitor can sometimes fail so the burners don't light. You'll stay chilly if this happens because your furnace won’t be able to heat the air. You can avoid this problem by having your ignitor cleaned and checked regularly by an Warren-area HVAC professional. If you don't know when yours was last checked, give our Warren HVAC contractors a call at (586) 489-3884.
  4. Exhaust Blower Problems: Your furnace's exhaust blower is what helps safely vent the dangerous combustion byproducts outdoors. For your protection, should your exhaust blower fail, today's furnaces will cycle on and off or simply shut down. Annual maintenance visits include checking for blower problems and correcting them proactively.
  5. Blower Motor Failure: The blower motor pushes the air heated by your furnace throughout your home. How efficient your furnace is doesn't matter if it fails to circulate air to keep your home comfortable. Typically, a blower can fail from overheating or because it gets clogged with debris. Having your ducts cleaned and your furnace tuned up is the best way to keep your blower working effectively.
  6. Cracked Heat Exchanger: The heat exchanger is one of the most critical components of a gas furnace. The heat exchanger is the part that transfers heat from the flame into heated air that is pushed through your home. If the metal of a heat exchanger becomes fatigued, it develops holes or cracks that can allow Carbon Monoxide to seep into your home. It can be quite expensive to replace a heat exchanger. Because of this, some homeowners choose to simply replace their furnace. If the stress on your heat exchanger is due to excess cycling due to having too large of a furnace, replacing only the heat exchanger will result in the same problem developing again. Our technician can look over your system and advise you.

Fortunately, for the residents of Warren, we can handle all of these issues and more! Make McCarver Mechanical Heating & Cooling your trusted partner for furnace maintenance and repair. Contact us at (586) 489-3884 today!

Trust Us to Tackle Your Furnace Problems in Warren or Grosse Pointe

When it comes to furnace repair in Warren or St. Clair Shores, we know you have plenty of HVAC companies to choose from. However, not all of them are equal.

When you need your furnace repaired or replaced, trust the experts at McCarver Mechanical Heating & Cooling! As our long list of happy customers shows, many of your neighbors already do! With 15 years of experience helping people in the Warren area, we have the know-how necessary to fix your broken furnace or replace the old one. No matter what you need, our company has well-defined services and procedures to ensure the job's done right. In other words, when it comes to furnace repair, you can always count on McCarver Mechanical Heating & Cooling for quality products and workmanship. Contact us today to schedule your furnace repair in Warren.

Frequently Asked Furnace Repair Questions

How Much Will a Furnace Repair in Warren Cost?

If you’re like most homeowners in Macomb County, you already know HVAC companies hate giving ballpark estimates. This is because the cost of a furnace repair varies greatly depending on the scope and cause of the problem. Something like replacing a heat exchanger can run into the high four digits. A simple sensor replacement, meanwhile, might come in at around $100. Typically, however, you can expect to pay between $300 and $800 for a standard Warren furnace repair. There is one thing to note, however. The likelihood of an expensive furnace problem increases significantly as your heating system ages into double-digits.

Your furnace in Warren might not be heating for various reasons. Before panicking, make sure your thermostat is set to heat and at a proper temperature. Some safety features—like the flame sensor or internal temperature sensor—may also cause your heating system to stop putting out heat. Finally, you’ll want to give your ductwork a cursory glance to ensure it’s not leaking the warm air your system is circulating.

If that kind of diagnosis sounds like a lot, you’ll want to call (586) 489-3884 instead. Our Warren furnace repair specialists will quickly uncover and remedy the problem.

No one wants to feel like they wasted money on an Warren furnace repair call. We also don’t want you shivering when a solution is easily within reach. Before calling our heating company, we suggest you:

  • Check your furnace filter and replace it if it is dirty
  • Verify your thermostat is set to heat
  • Make sure the pilot light hasn’t been blown out
  • Check if the furnace circuit breaker was flipped
  • Open any closed vents

If none of those solve the issue, it’s time to seek out McCarver Mechanical’s heating expertise.

Typically, your furnace is part of your home’s background noise. Its normal operation is not something you acknowledge. But you noticed today that something’s off. Maybe it clanged, popped, or made a grinding noise. Because these things often indicate a major mechanical failure, reaching out to an Warren furnace repair company at the first bump in the night is important. If left unchecked, things like loose screws or whining belts can cause catastrophic damage to your entire unit.

With that cautionary statement out of the way, let’s talk about potential causes. Typical noisemakers in furnaces include:

  • Dirty burners making booming sounds due to accumulated gas
  • Cracked heat exchangers making popping or rattling noises
  • Bad blower motors buzzing when the system starts or stops
  • Clogged air filters can result in banging when the system stops
  • Loose screws or bolts rattling during furnace operation
  • Expanding or contracting ductwork

If your home in Warren is freezing on a winter night, you’ll want to call a furnace repair company near you. Some other signs you might want to give (586) 489-3884 a call include:

  • Burning smells that persist long after you turn the system on for the season
  • Error codes on the thermostat
  • A Warren heating system that constantly turns on and off
  • Low air pressure from your vents or a lack of warm air
  • Strange popping or banging noises
  • A sudden increase in energy bills

Most people in Warren associate furnaces with fire. So, when you see a puddle of water around it, there can be a moment of dissonance. However, water is produced in newer furnaces due to condensation. Here are a few potential causes of heating system leaks:

  • Clogged condensation drain or tubing
  • A bad heat exchanger
  • Dirty air filters
  • Problems with the condensate pump
  • Humidifier or air conditioner problems
  • A leak near where the furnace pipes out to the roof

Because these leaks can damage your furnace, it’s important to handle them quickly. Call (586) 489-3884 to schedule a furnace repair in Grosse Pointe or Warren.

This is one of the main reasons people in Warren start searching for ‘furnace repair near me.’ Often, a furnace that struggles to match the thermostat is easy to fix. Neglecting to change your HVAC system’s filter is the number one cause. The dirt buildup chokes your system’s airflow and stymies its efficiency. Some other potential causes include:

  • An old furnace that needs to be replaced
  • A faulty thermostat
  • Blocked or shut vents
  • Issues with the pilot light or flame sensor

Systems manufactured after 2010 (which most should now be) are unlikely to have a pilot light. For efficiency’s sake, newer heating systems in Warren rely on electronic ignition systems. Older units—which are getting to a point where replacement is necessary—may still rely on a standing pilot system. If that little light is snuffed out by wind or storm, you CAN relight it on your own, but you need to do things in the correct order:

  1. Turn off the gas to the unit to prevent blowback. This is typically done with a small knob or switch at the base of the furnace.
  2. Wait five to ten minutes for the remaining gas to exit the system. Otherwise, you risk burning your hands.
  3. Adjust the valve in Step 1 to point to ‘Pilot.’ While holding the reset button, use a long-stemmed lighter to bring the flame close to the pilot light’s opening.
  4. Once the light is burning steadily, release your furnace’s reset button
  5. Turn the knob to ‘On’ and watch the light for about 30 seconds to ensure it stays lit.

If you run into any problems, you might have a bad thermocouple or, worse, a gas leak. Try again starting at Step 1. If the pilot light doesn’t stay lit, we recommend turning off the gas and phoning a Warren furnace repair company.

You probably know someone in Warren who had their furnace condemned for a heat exchanger. You might even think this is a way for the HVAC company to scam people, but it is truly a safety issue. More than cause incomplete combustion, a crack in your heat exchanger can leak carbon monoxide into your home. This odorless, invisible gas can kill you if left unchecked.

Due to the cost of replacing a heat exchanger (and the potential for ongoing safety issues if your furnace is improperly sized), it’s often better to replace your furnace. When our Warren heating expert arrives, they’ll provide you with multiple remedies. Which one is best for you depends on your budget and the age of your unit.

Does it feel like your furnace has been running for a week straight? Then, it’s likely time to call a local heating and air company. Identifying the exact cause of this issue can be difficult. Your standard culprits include thermostat issues, clogged air filters, dirty flame sensors, obstructed flues, and electrical problems. Our Warren furnace technicians will quickly pinpoint and diagnose the problem so you don’t waste money on useless parts and unnecessary repairs.

Maybe you’ve gotten a lower Warren furnace repair quote from a different contractor. You might be wondering what’s wrong with saving a few dollars. Isn’t a fixed heating system a fixed heating system? Not really. By opting for a quote that’s too good to be true, you might end up with:

  • Inferior parts that break after a few weeks of use
  • Missed problems due to a shallow system inspection
  • Inexperienced technicians with little experience
  • A shady HVAC company that makes money off of pushing early furnace replacements
  • A job without a warranty or guaranteed results

McCarver Mechanical Heating & Cooling services and repairs all brands of furnaces in Warren. Though there are differences in how these systems are designed, they almost always run off the same principles. That’s why any Macomb County heating expert can tackle problems with them. Our team is highly familiar with popular brands like Lennox, Carrier, Trane, and Goodman.

As mentioned earlier, loud noises from your furnace often indicate that you need Grosse Pointe or Warren heating repair. But there are also cases where your unit’s volume is a constant and not an emergent problem. This issue is often reported in newly installed furnaces. This is usually caused by an unobstructed return, a high fan speed, or poorly designed ductwork. You’ll want to start by verifying the blower’s not set to the highest level. If that doesn’t fix it, bring someone in to alter the trajectory of the air. Typically, this involves changing the ductwork layout around your heating unit.

You get home from work and stomp the snow off your boots. After tugging them off, you take a seat on the couch. Unfortunately, your relaxation is interrupted by a strange scent. Maybe it’s musty or acrid. Does it remind you of a kitchen fire? Then, you might want to see if it’s coming from your furnace or your vents. Potential culprits of a stinky furnace in Warren include:

  • Dust burning off during initial startup (this is normal when heating season starts)
  • Mold or mildew build-up in your HVAC system
  • Electrical burning from an overloaded or shorted circuit*
  • Rotten egg or sulphuric smells from a gas leak*
  • Burning oil from grit or grime in the heat exchanger*

Items with an * indicate a serious health risk. Turn off your system immediately and call (586) 489-3884 for prompt furnace repair in Warren.

Like they say: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The same goes for scheduling Warren furnace maintenance. During your regular tune-ups, our technician will thoroughly inspect your system. This will allow them to uncover things like loose screws, failing sensors, and thermostat issues that could take out your heating system on the coldest night of the year.

Want to make your annual furnace tune-ups easier? Consider signing up for McCarver Mechanical Heating & Cooling’s maintenance plan!

If you have a furnace that clicks intermittently or you notice dirt on the sensor, it’s time to clean it. While we typically recommend against DIY furnace repairs in Warren, this one is harmless enough. It can also help you get your furnace back on when a local HVAC company isn’t readily available.

Here’s a step-by-step process to making this vital part (figuratively) shine:

  • Turn off the power and gas to prevent shocks or burns.
  • Remove the access panel to get to the flame sensor. Depending on the model, you may need a small screwdriver.
  • On or next to the burner assembly, you’ll find a thin metal rod secured by a hex screw. This is your flame sensor. Remove the screw and slide it out of the furnace.
  • Use some electrical cleaner and a small bristle brush to clean the sensor.
  • Reinstall the sensor and put the access panel back on.
  • Turn the gas and electricity back on.
  • Test the furnace.

While YouTube might say it’s easy, we strongly advise against this. Furnaces are complex machines and potentially hazardous if mishandled. Beyond electrical shock, you risk carbon monoxide poisoning, fire, and worsening the problem. Additionally, if your unit is still under warranty, any DIY work will void it. There are a few things you can do to help keep your heating system in shape:

  • Regularly change your furnace filter.
  • Schedule your yearly Warren furnace tune-ups.
  • Handle minor problems with your flame sensor or thermostat.