Why won't my furnace turn on at all?

A furnace that is blowing cold air is a different problem with its own page. This page is for total silence: thermostat calling for heat, furnace doing nothing. Before you call anyone, including us, run the free list, because we would rather not charge you $89 to flip a switch.

The five free checks, in order: First, thermostat batteries, because a dead thermostat calls for nothing. Second, the switch on or near the furnace that looks exactly like a light switch, because it is one, and painters, kids, and attic-crawlers turn it off constantly. Third, the breaker, tripped once, reset once, and if it trips again that is information, not annoyance. Fourth, the filter: a filter loaded with a summer’s worth of valley dust can choke airflow enough that the furnace protects itself and refuses to run. Fifth, on furnaces with a condensate pump or safety switch, a full pan or blocked line tells the furnace to stay off, and clearing it wakes everything up.

What the clicking means: if the furnace clicks and hums but never lights, you have moved from this page’s territory into ignition problems, usually a hot surface igniter at the end of its life, $220 to $340 flat, or a flame sensor coated in oxide, $189 to $260. Those are the two most common furnace repairs in Kern County and both are same-visit fixes off the truck.

The one non-negotiable: if you smell gas at any point, stop troubleshooting. Leave the house, then call the gas company and then us, in that order. Everything else on this page can wait a day. That cannot.

What the visit looks like when you do call: ignition sequence watched end to end, safeties tested rather than bypassed, a combustion check on every gas furnace, and a written flat price before any part goes in. About 80% of heating repairs finish same-day, and winter mornings here are exactly when you want that statistic working for you.