AC repair
Furnace & heating
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GoodmanSeasonal tune-up and full diagnostic on your Carrier, Trane, or Goodman system - readings shown to you before any repair is proposed
Diagnosis first, numbers second - you approve the repair price before a single part goes in.
Get your free estimateFast, Reliable Furnace Repair Across Novato
Furnace repair in Novato typically costs between $150 and $700, and most calls we handle are diagnosed and fixed the same day. If your heat is out or your furnace is making a sound it shouldn’t, call us at (559) 245-8807. A live person answers, any hour, and we’ll send a technician to your Novato home with a written price before any work starts.
Novato’s patchwork of microclimates gives us a front-row seat to a problem other cities rarely see. A furnace that ran fine during a foggy Hamilton morning can be cycling hard by the time Indian Valley hits 90. That kind of daily swing exposes ductwork, thermostats, and heat exchangers in ways a more uniform climate never does. We know which failure modes show up in a 1950s rancher off San Marin Drive versus an 80s tract home on former farmland, and we diagnose with that context in mind from the first visit.
Why Brandt HVAC Co San Francisco Is Novato’s Preferred Furnace Repair Company
Novato homeowners tell us the same thing over and over: they want to know who’s walking through the door. That’s exactly how we operate. Before a technician arrives at your home in Novato, you get their name and photo sent to you. When they knock, they’re in uniform and they show a photo ID badge. Every technician is background-checked and identity-verified through our Threshold Verified standard. If someone shows up you weren’t told to expect, that visit is on us, and we make it right.
Devin Marlowe leads our team, and he’s built our process around one promise: a written price before any work begins, on every job, no exceptions. That means no surprise charges after the fact. Every repair also includes a written guarantee, and if the repair fails within the guarantee period, we return at no charge under our 365-Day Done Right Promise. A free second visit, no argument.
We answer our own phone. Not a call center, not a voicemail tree. A live person in the Bay Area picks up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, nights and holidays included. For a furnace that quits on a December night in Novato, that matters.
Styles & brands we work with
Heating Repair in Novato
Heating Repair in Novato usually means one of two things: the furnace won’t start at all, or it starts but something’s off, a burning smell, a short cycle, a blower that screams. In older Novato homes, we often find the root cause isn’t the furnace itself but what it’s attached to: undersized ductwork, a thermostat that was never recalibrated after central AC was added, or a panel that can’t legally feed a modern system. We diagnose the whole picture, not just the part that broke.
Furnace Tune-Up
A furnace tune-up in Novato runs $80 to $200. We inspect the heat exchanger for cracks, test the ignitor, check gas pressure, and measure static pressure across the blower. In a 1960s home with original single-pane windows, that static pressure reading tells us more about your system’s health than the furnace’s age does.
We hand you a written report of what we found, not a verbal summary. Our technicians aren’t paid on what they sell, so the report stays honest.
Ignitor Replacement
Hot surface ignitors wear out, and when they fail, the furnace won’t light. In Novato, we see ignitor failures cluster in late fall, right when furnaces fire up for the first time after months of disuse. We stock replacements for all major brands on our trucks, so one visit usually handles it.
Boiler Repair in Novato
Boiler Repair in Novato shows up most often in older hillside homes, particularly those built before forced-air systems became the default. A boiler that’s banging, leaking, or failing to hold pressure needs attention fast, because a small leak can become a water problem in a finished basement or a crawl space. We service all major residential boiler types and brands, and we give you a written price before any work begins, same as every job we do.
Gas Valve Repair
A failing gas valve usually announces itself with a furnace that lights intermittently or not at all. If you smell gas near your furnace, leave the house and call the gas company first, then call us. Gas valve work is not a DIY job, full stop. A trained technician with the right tools and a combustion analyzer needs to handle it.
Heat Exchanger Repair
A cracked heat exchanger is the one furnace problem you should never ignore. It can leak carbon monoxide into your home. In older Novato homes with undersized ductwork, short-cycling accelerates heat exchanger wear years before its time. If we find a crack, we’ll show you photos, explain your options plainly, and give you a written quote to replace the furnace if repair isn’t the right call.
Trusted Brands We Service in Novato
We repair and maintain furnaces and boilers from all major residential brands, including York, Daikin, Bryant, and American Standard, along with Carrier, Trane, Lennox, Goodman, Rheem, and more. Because Novato homes span so many eras and builders, we keep a broad parts stock on our trucks and at the ready from local distributors, which means faster turnaround for our Novato customers. A 1980s tract home with a Daikin and a 1950s rancher with a Bryant both get the same careful diagnosis, but different parts and different fixes.
See the difference
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After
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AfterCommon Furnace Repair Problems We See in Novato Homes
These four problems account for a large share of our furnace repair calls in Novato:
- Short-cycling from add-on AC miscalibration. A furnace that runs three minutes on, three minutes off is often fighting a thermostat that was never recalibrated when central AC was added. In Novato’s older homes, this leads to cracked heat exchangers years early. We check thermostat logic and cycling behavior on every call.
- Blower motor burnout from high static pressure. Ductwork sized for heat-only airflow gets asked to push more air when AC is added. The blower motor works harder, overheats, and fails. We measure static pressure and tell you if the motor is a symptom, not the root cause.
- Electrical panel limitations in 1950s and 60s ranch homes. A central Novato rancher with a 100-amp panel often can’t legally feed a modern furnace plus a heat pump. Replacing the furnace without checking the panel can leave you with a code violation and an expensive fix later. We check panel capacity before recommending any major replacement in older homes.
- Undersized equipment on hillside homes. Builders in Novato’s early boom sized for fog, not heat. A 2-ton AC on a 3,000-square-foot hillside house isn’t uncommon. When the furnace runs constantly trying to compensate, the whole system wears out faster. We spot this during diagnosis and tell you honestly if a repair will actually solve your comfort problem.
Pricing for Furnace Repair in Novato, CA
Most furnace repairs in Novato fall between $150 and $700, parts and labor included. Here’s the breakdown:
| Service | Typical Range in Novato |
|---|---|
| Furnace Repair | $150 – $700 |
| Tune-Up | $80 – $200 |
Where your repair lands in that range depends on the part that failed and how long the job takes. An ignitor replacement runs on the lower end. A gas valve or blower motor pushes toward the middle. A heat exchanger replacement can reach the top of the range. Whatever the job, we give you a written price before any work starts, and that price is what you pay. Call (559) 245-8807 for a free estimate, we’ll tell you over the phone what to expect and exactly what we’ll check when we arrive.
We Also Serve Cities Near Novato
Beyond Novato, our Furnace Repair team serves San Rafael, Vallejo, Richmond, and Berkeley. If you’re in one of those communities and your heat is out, call us at (559) 245-8807. The same written-price promise and Threshold Verified technician standard apply everywhere we work, including right here in Novato.
Serving Novato, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Novato area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Furnace Repair in Novato
That’s usually not a furnace problem at all, it’s a static pressure and load mismatch. In Novato, a home in foggy Hamilton sits 20 degrees cooler than Indian Valley on the same August afternoon. Your furnace’s blower is being asked to push air through ductwork that may have been sized for a different load, and when outdoor temps climb, the system can’t keep up. Before paying for a repair that won’t fix the real issue, have a technician measure static pressure and check whether your equipment matches your home’s actual microclimate. Call (559) 245-8807 and we’ll come check it properly.
Sometimes, yes, but only if the core components are still safe. A failing capacitor is a cheap fix, and if the heat exchanger is intact and the blower motor tests fine, replacing the capacitor can buy you another season or two. But in a 1960s Novato rancher, we often find the heat exchanger has already cracked from decades of short-cycling, and no capacitor will fix that. We’ll show you photos of what we find and give you a straight recommendation. If repair is the right call, we say so. If replacement is, we say so too. Call (559) 245-8807 for an honest assessment.
SEER2 is the updated efficiency rating standard for cooling systems, and it matters because Novato homes increasingly pair a high-efficiency furnace with a heat pump or AC. If you’re repairing an older furnace that’s paired with a newer, higher-SEER2 cooling unit, they often don’t communicate well, which can cause short-cycling and premature wear. Before spending money on a repair, it’s worth understanding whether your furnace and AC are compatible, and whether the fix keeps them working together or just postpones a mismatch problem. Call (559) 245-8807 and we’ll explain what applies to your specific setup, free.
It depends on the condition of the boiler and your home’s layout. A well-maintained cast-iron boiler can outlast a forced-air furnace by a decade or more, and in older Novato homes without ductwork, switching to a furnace means opening walls and running new ducts, a major job. But if the boiler is losing pressure, leaking, or nearing its end of life, a repair may only buy you a winter. We’ll give you written quotes for both paths and tell you honestly which one makes sense for your home in Novato. Call (559) 245-8807 to schedule an assessment.
Listen for a whine or scream that gets worse when the AC kicks on, that’s the blower working against ductwork it wasn’t sized for. In Novato’s 1980s tract homes, this is a signature failure. The blower runs hot, the bearings wear out, and eventually the motor seizes. A technician can confirm high static pressure in about ten minutes with a pressure gauge, and that reading tells you whether replacing the blower will actually stick or just fail again in a year. Call (559) 245-8807 and we’ll check it, no guesswork.
If your furnace is acting up in Novato, don’t wait for a cold night to make it worse. Call (559) 245-8807 now. You’ll get a live person, a clear answer, and a technician you know by name and face before they ever ring your doorbell.
Written by Devin Marlowe, Owner at Brandt HVAC Co San Francisco, serving Novato with furnace repair, boiler repair, and whole-home comfort diagnostics.