16 answers on this topic
Winter & Heating
Kern County winter is short but real: tule fog, 38 degree mornings, and furnaces asked to wake up after eight months of napping. These are the heating questions we actually get, answered with the same flat prices we publish for everything else.
Why does my furnace smell like burning?
A dusty burning smell for the first hour of the season's first run is normal: it is summer dust cooking off the heat exchanger. A smell that persists past that, or anything electrical or plastic, means shut it off and call. And a gas smell is never normal: leave the house first, then call the utility and 911.
How much does a new furnace cost in Bakersfield?
An 80% AFUE gas furnace runs $4,400 to $6,200 installed. A 96% AFUE high-efficiency unit runs $5,800 to $7,800. A heat pump, which replaces the furnace and the AC together, runs $9,800 to $14,200 and qualifies for federal tax credits. Real published ranges, confirmed in writing before any work.
Should I cover my AC unit in winter, or is that a myth?
In Bakersfield, skip the cover. These units are built to live outdoors in weather far worse than a Kern County winter, and a wrapped condenser traps moisture that corrodes it from the inside while offering rodents a dry winter cabin. If you have a heat pump, never cover it, because it runs all winter. Two minutes of debris clearing beats any cover.
Do I need a carbon monoxide detector if I have a gas furnace?
Yes, and in California it is not optional: the Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act has required CO alarms in every home with a gas appliance or attached garage since 2011, placed outside each sleeping area. A gas furnace burning correctly makes almost no CO. The alarm exists for the day something stops being correct, and CO gives no other warning.
How long does a furnace last in Bakersfield?
Longer than the AC bolted to it, usually 15 to 20 years and sometimes more, because our mild winters are the easiest furnace duty in California. The catch: a furnace that old predates modern efficiency, and past 18 years the safety-critical parts deserve annual inspection. The replacement decision here is usually about the whole system, not the furnace alone.
Is it cheaper to run space heaters than central heat?
It depends entirely on how much of the house you are heating. One space heater warming one occupied room while the rest of the house sits cool can genuinely beat running the furnace for the whole home. Space heaters in three rooms trying to replace central heat lose badly, because electric resistance heat is the most expensive warmth money buys.
What is the emergency heat setting on my thermostat?
Emergency heat tells a heat pump system to stop using the efficient heat pump and rely entirely on its electric backup elements, which produce heat at roughly triple the cost. It exists for the day the heat pump itself breaks. In Bakersfield's mild winters there is almost no other reason to touch it, and leaving it on by accident is a famous bill inflator.
What should I set my thermostat to in winter?
The Department of Energy's number is 68 while you are home and awake, lower while asleep or out, and their math says each degree of setback held for 8 hours saves about 1 percent on heating, up to 10 percent a year from a 7 to 10 degree setback. Bakersfield's mild winters make this cheap advice to follow, with one exception for heat pump owners.
Why does my furnace turn on and off every few minutes?
Short cycling in a furnace usually means it is overheating and protecting itself: a dust-choked filter or blocked airflow trips the high limit switch, the furnace shuts down, cools, relights, repeats. A dirty flame sensor causes the same rhythm by killing the flame seconds after ignition. Both are cheap fixes, and ignoring the pattern wears out expensive parts fast.
Why does my heat pump blow lukewarm air? Is it broken?
Probably not. A gas furnace blasts genuinely hot air, but a heat pump delivers air around 90 to 100 degrees, which heats the house fine yet feels cool against your 98.6 degree hand. If the house holds temperature, the system is working as designed. If the house is losing ground, or the air is actually cold, then it is a service call.
Why is my gas bill so high in winter?
A winter gas bill has the same two halves as a summer electric bill: the rate, which climbs in winter and is not yours to control, and the usage, which is. Usage is mostly the furnace, and the fixable leaks are setback habits, duct losses, a furnace running inefficiently, and a water heater working harder in cold months. Each has a page or a fix.
Why is upstairs freezing in winter when it was boiling all summer?
Same house, same physics, opposite result. Warm air rises, but in winter your ducts, insulation, and air leaks conspire differently: heated air escapes through the attic above the second floor, leaky ducts lose their warmth before reaching the far rooms, and the stack effect pulls cold outside air in low while pushing your paid-for heat out high. The fixes overlap heavily with the summer ones.
Why won't my furnace turn on at all?
Check the free stuff first: thermostat batteries, the furnace switch that looks like a light switch, the breaker, a filter clogged enough to trip the limit, and the condensate safety switch. Those five findings cost zero dollars and solve a surprising share of no-heat calls. If it still will not start, the diagnostic is $89, waived with the repair.
What is a heat pump, and how can the same unit heat and cool?
A heat pump is an air conditioner with a reversing valve. Cooling has always worked by moving heat from inside to outside; a heat pump can flip the direction and move heat from outside air into the house in winter. Moving heat costs far less than making it, which is why heat pumps heat so cheaply, and why mild-winter Bakersfield is nearly ideal territory for them.
Why does my thermostat read a different temperature than the room feels?
Usually because the thermostat is telling the truth about the wrong spot. A thermostat in a sunbeam, above a supply register, on an exterior wall, or in a stuffy hallway reports its own microclimate, and the whole system obeys that report. Location explains most of these mysteries; a failing sensor explains a few; and sometimes both devices are right and the house's airflow is the liar.
Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
The usual suspects, in order: the thermostat fan set to 'on' instead of 'auto,' a clogged filter tripping the high-limit switch, a dirty flame sensor, or a failed igniter. The first two are free five-minute checks you can do yourself. The last two are quick flat-rate repairs.