The short answer
Mountain View heating problems tend to surface during the first damp cold stretch after months of light use. BayPro repairs furnaces, heat pumps, wall and floor heaters, ducts and thermostats, starting from your symptoms and confirming the cause with tests.
Mountain View rarely sees bitter cold, and that is part of why heating trouble catches people off guard. A system can go many weeks with only light use, then get asked to run through a string of damp, chilly nights in December or January. Whatever was wearing out quietly shows up all at once. BayPro Heating & Cooling repairs gas furnaces, heat pumps, wall and floor heaters, ductwork and thermostats throughout 94040, 94041 and 94043, about eleven miles from our San Jose base. Rather than repeat a list of parts, this page is organized around the questions homeowners actually ask when the heat is not right.
Is it the thermostat or the equipment?
This is the first fork in any diagnosis. A thermostat with a blank screen, a smart thermostat that keeps rebooting or one set to the wrong system type can stop heat as completely as a broken furnace. Check the batteries, make sure the mode is Heat and the setpoint is above room temperature, and look for a tripped breaker or a furnace switch that someone turned off by mistake.
If those all check out, the problem is most likely at the equipment or in the wiring between. We test whether the thermostat is sending a heat call and whether the furnace or heat pump receives it, which tells us quickly where to look next.
Why is my heat pump running but the house feels cool?
Heat pumps deliver air that feels cooler than a furnace's, often in the 90s rather than well above 100 degrees, and they run longer cycles to make up for it. That alone is not a fault. A real problem looks like supply air barely warmer than the room, a system that runs nonstop as the house loses ground, or an outdoor coil that stays coated in ice.
Mountain View's damp winter mornings mean more defrost cycles. If defrost controls fail, the coil ices and heating output drops sharply. Other causes include low refrigerant from a leak, a reversing valve stuck in cooling mode and an outdoor fan motor that has stopped. We measure temperatures and pressures to pin down which.
Why do some rooms heat and others do not?
Uneven heat usually comes from the air distribution, not the heat source. In Mountain View homes with ducts in the attic or crawlspace, separated joints, crushed flex duct and missing insulation all reduce the heat that reaches the farthest rooms. Rooms over a garage or with a lot of glass lose heat faster as well.
We check airflow at registers, look at duct connections and test static pressure to see whether the blower can deliver what the ducts need. Sealing and reconnecting ducts is often a far smaller job than people expect, and it helps both heating and cooling.
What can go wrong with a wall or floor heater?
Older homes and some additions in Mountain View rely on gas wall heaters or floor furnaces. Typical problems include a pilot that will not stay lit, burners clogged with dust, a fan that has stopped on a fan-assisted wall unit and a vent that has been disturbed during remodeling. Because these appliances sit right in living space, we always check the venting and the gas connection along with the repair.
- Pilot light goes out repeatedly: usually a thermocouple or pilot assembly
- Burning or dusty smell that does not fade: dirty burners or debris on the heat surface
- Heater runs but the room stays cool: weak fan or blocked grille
- Soot around the grille or vent: combustion or venting problem that needs prompt attention
Should I repair or replace an older furnace?
Bay Area Air District rules do not require you to replace a working furnace or water heater; they only apply when that equipment fails or is replaced. So the choice comes down to safety, reliability and the size of the repair. A sound furnace with a failed igniter or blower motor is a good repair candidate. A cracked heat exchanger or a major failure on a very old unit is where replacement makes sense.
If you do replace, Rule 9-4 requires gas furnaces manufactured from 2029 to meet a zero-NOx standard, which points toward heat pumps. BayREN and your clean energy provider may have incentives, and we confirm current amounts before quoting. We repair heating systems in Mountain View and nearby Los Altos, Sunnyvale, Los Altos Hills, Cupertino and Santa Clara.
More services in Mountain View
- AC Repair in Mountain View
- Heat Pump Installation in Mountain View
- AC Installation in Mountain View
- Furnace Repair in Mountain View