The short answer
Heating repair in Los Altos covers gas furnaces, floor and wall furnaces, heat pumps and ductless systems. Start by checking the thermostat, breaker and filter; if the heat still does not come on, a technician should diagnose the specific system and check it for safe operation.
Heat in a Los Altos house can come from several places. One home has a forced-air gas furnace in the garage. The next has an older floor furnace set into the hallway, or a wall heater in a back bedroom. A remodeled place down the street may run a heat pump or a pair of ductless heads. Each fails in its own way, so a useful heating repair starts with knowing which kind of system you have. BayPro Heating & Cooling repairs all of these across 94024, driving roughly 12 miles west from San Jose. Below you will find a quick guide to the heat sources common in the area, what usually breaks, and what to try before you call.
Five minutes of checks before you book
A surprising number of no-heat calls end with a simple fix. Try these first; if none of them work, you have still narrowed down the problem for the technician.
- Thermostat set to heat, with the target a few degrees above room temperature, and fresh batteries if it uses them
- Breaker for the furnace or air handler on, and the service switch near the unit in the on position
- Furnace door panel fully seated, since a loose panel stops the safety switch from allowing operation
- Air filter replaced if it looks gray or clogged
- For a heat pump, outdoor unit clear of leaves and not buried in ice or debris
Floor furnaces and wall heaters
Older Los Altos homes sometimes still use a floor furnace, a grate in the floor with a gas burner below, or a wall furnace that heats one or two rooms. These units are simple but old, and many are well past their intended service life. Common problems include a pilot that will not stay lit, a failed thermocouple, a dirty burner, and a grate or cabinet that runs hot enough to be a burn risk around children and pets.
We service these appliances and check their venting and gas connections. If the unit is unsafe or parts are no longer available, we will tell you, and we can explain what a replacement would look like, from a ductless heat pump in the same room to a ducted system for the whole house.
Heat pumps that blow cool air
A heat pump in heating mode delivers air that feels warm rather than hot, and that is normal. Air that is truly cool, or a system that runs constantly without warming the house, points to something else: a reversing valve stuck in cooling, a defrost control fault, low refrigerant, or backup heat strips that are not engaging.
On damp winter mornings it is also normal for the outdoor unit to run a defrost cycle, sometimes with a cloud of steam. If it stays frosted over or never seems to finish, that is a repair call. We check the sensors, controls and refrigerant pressures to find the cause.
Thermostats, zones and uneven rooms
Sometimes the heating equipment is fine and the control is not. A thermostat with failing wiring, a smart thermostat set up with the wrong system type, or a zoning damper stuck closed can leave the house cold while the furnace looks healthy.
Uneven heat is common in Los Altos homes that have been added onto over the years. A new primary suite or a family room built over a slab may not have been connected to the original ductwork in a way that delivers enough air. We can measure airflow at the registers and tell you whether the fix is a damper adjustment, a duct change or a separate heat source for that space.
When repair stops making sense
Bay Area Air District rules do not require replacing working equipment, so a repair is often the right call. If your heat source is very old, unsafe or keeps failing, we will say that directly and outline the options, including heat pumps, which Air District Rule 9-4 points toward for furnaces manufactured from 2029. We also serve Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino and Santa Clara.
More services in Los Altos
- AC Repair in Los Altos
- Heat Pump Installation in Los Altos
- AC Installation in Los Altos
- Furnace Repair in Los Altos