AC repair
Furnace & heating
Heat pumps
Ductless mini splits
Carrier
Trane
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 San Rafael
When your furnace quits on a 38-degree San Rafael morning, you need a repair crew that knows the difference between a 1950s crawlspace furnace in Sun Valley and a 1990s hall closet unit in Terra Linda. Brandt HVAC Co San Francisco serves San Rafael with furnace repair that starts with a real diagnosis, not a guess. Most San Rafael furnace repairs run $150 – $700, and we give you a written price before any work begins. Call (559) 245-8807 and a live person answers, day or night.
Why Brandt HVAC Co San Francisco Is San Rafael’s Preferred Furnace Repair Company
San Rafael homeowners call us because we show up on time, tell you exactly who’s coming, and never start a job without a written price. Devin Marlowe leads our team with a simple rule: the homeowner opens the door knowing the technician’s name, face, and repair plan. That matters in a city where many residents are home alone during the day or have young kids in the house.
Every technician arrives in uniform, shows a photo ID badge at the door, and has been background-checked under the Threshold Verified standard. If someone shows up who we didn’t tell you to expect, that visit is on us. Our phone is staffed by a live person 24/7, so a cold furnace at 2 a.m. in Gerstle Park gets a real human on the line, not a voicemail queue. San Rafael repair calls typically get same-day or next-morning dispatch depending on when you call.
We’ve worked in enough San Rafael homes to know the common failure points before we even open the panel. Crawlspace furnaces with rusted heat exchangers, undersized ductwork that starves bedrooms, aging electrical panels that can’t handle a modern blower. This isn’t textbook knowledge. It’s what we see on service calls from Rafael Meadows to Sun Valley every winter.
Styles & brands we work with
Furnace Maintenance in San Rafael
Furnace Maintenance in San Rafael means more than swapping a filter. The fog that rolls off Mount Tam in early winter mornings pushes humidity into crawlspaces, and that moisture accelerates corrosion on burners and heat exchangers in the older homes that define this city. A tune-up here costs $80 – $200 and includes checking the heat exchanger for cracks, testing the gas valve, measuring static pressure, and cleaning the flame sensor. We write up what we found, in plain language, with photos when something needs attention.
Seasonal Inspections Before the Wet Season
San Rafael’s rainy season starts in November, and a furnace that sat idle all summer often struggles on that first cold, damp morning. A pre-season inspection catches pilot failures, corroded igniters, and clogged condensate lines before you’re waiting for a repair truck in the rain.
Older Furnace Tune-Up Considerations
If your furnace dates to the 1960s or earlier, maintenance also means checking the heat exchanger more carefully. The original gravity furnaces in Sun Valley and Rafael Meadows were built for a different era, and a cracked exchanger is a safety issue, not a comfort issue. We’ll tell you plainly if the unit is safe to run another season or if you’re spending money on borrowed time.
Heat Pump Repair in San Rafael
Heat Pump Repair in San Rafael comes up more often than people expect, because the city’s diurnal temperature swings put real strain on heat pumps. A unit may run in air-conditioning mode at 3 p.m. when the sun hits the hillside, then switch to heating mode by 9 p.m. That daily cycling wears out reversing valves and defrost sensors faster here than in cities with steadier temperatures. Heat pump repair in San Rafael typically runs $150 – $700, depending on whether the problem is a refrigerant leak, a failed defrost board, or a seized compressor.
Reversing Valve and Refrigerant Issues
A heat pump that won’t switch between heating and cooling usually points to a stuck reversing valve or a low refrigerant charge. We diagnose the exact issue, show you the reading, and give you a written price before any repair starts. No guesswork, no upsell.
Defrost Cycle Problems on Chilly Mornings
San Rafael mornings near freezing can trigger defrost cycles that reveal bad defrost sensors or low airflow across the outdoor coil. If your heat pump frosts over and stops heating, call us. We service Trane, Lennox, Goodman, and Rheem heat pumps in San Rafael weekly.
Trusted Brands We Service in San Rafael
Our San Rafael repair crews work on all major residential brands, including Trane, Lennox, Goodman, and Rheem. We keep common furnace parts stocked locally for San Rafael service calls: igniters, flame sensors, gas valves, blower motors, and control boards. That means faster turnaround when your Trane furnace fails on a January night in San Rafael, without waiting days for a part to ship from a warehouse two states away. If your unit is a less common brand, we source parts fast and keep you informed.
Common Furnace Repair Problems We See in San Rafael Homes
- Original gravity furnaces in crawlspaces. Many 1950s homes in Sun Valley and Rafael Meadows still have their original gravity furnaces, which sit in crawlspaces and rely on natural convection. When they fail, the repair often reveals ductwork that was never designed for a modern blower, and a like-for-like swap can make things worse, not better.
- Undersized ductwork starving far bedrooms. Homes built between 1920 and 1960 in San Rafael often have duct runs too narrow for today’s high-efficiency furnaces. The result is uneven heating: the living room is warm, but the back bedroom off the hall stays cold. Re-balancing returns and replacing collapsed sections fixes this.
- Electrical panels that can’t handle startup load. Older San Rafael homes frequently have 60-amp or 100-amp panels from the 1950s and 60s with no dedicated circuit for a modern furnace. A new blower motor can trip the breaker on startup, and sometimes a panel upgrade is the only safe path forward.
- Short-cycling on cold mornings near the hills. Furnaces in Gerstle Park and the Mission area often short-cycle when thermostats are poorly located or when the heat exchanger overheats due to restricted airflow. It’s a common San Rafael pattern in older, single-zone systems fighting the city’s morning fog chill and afternoon sun.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterPricing for Furnace Repair in San Rafael, CA
Furnace repair in San Rafael runs $150 – $700 for most jobs. A straightforward igniter replacement is on the low end. A gas valve replacement or blower motor swap lands in the middle. A full diagnostic that uncovers multiple failures, or a repair involving a heat exchanger, pushes toward the top. We give you a written price before any work starts, every single time. No hourly billing surprises, no “while we’re here” add-ons. Call (559) 245-8807 for a free estimate over the phone, and we’ll tell you honestly what the most likely cause is and what it should cost to fix.
| Service | Typical San Rafael Cost |
|---|---|
| Furnace Repair | $150 – $700 |
| Tune-Up | $80 – $200 |
Every repair includes a written guarantee. If the same problem returns within the guarantee period, we come back at no charge under our 365-Day Done Right Promise. Free second visit, no argument.
We Also Serve Cities Near San Rafael
Our Furnace Repair team covers San Rafael and the surrounding Bay Area communities. If you’re in Richmond, Novato, Berkeley, or San Francisco, we can often dispatch a technician the same day you call. We know these neighborhoods and their housing stock, and we bring the same written-price guarantee to every job across the region. Looking for a full picture of what we do in this area? Visit our San Rafael service page for more.
Serving San Rafael, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the San Rafael 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 San Rafael
A like-for-like swap disappoints because the original ductwork in these homes was sized for a low-static gravity furnace, not a modern high-static blower. The new furnace pushes air harder, but the old ducts leak or collapse under the pressure, so the back bedroom stays cold even after paying for a “better” unit. Our crew pulled a 1963 Rheem gravity furnace from a crawlspace in Sun Valley where the homeowner had patched the heat exchanger three times. Static pressure was 0.9″ w.c. on the old ductwork, so we replaced the blower motor and capacitor, then re-balanced the returns to drop it to 0.5″ w.c. Warm air finally reached the back bedroom. If you’re in Sun Valley, get a duct assessment before you buy a new furnace. Call (559) 245-8807 and we’ll check it.
Yes, but it’s rarely as simple as bolting on an AC coil. Many 1950s and 60s homes in San Rafael have gravity furnaces in the crawlspace with no dedicated 120V circuit and no low-voltage control wiring. Adding air conditioning typically means new ducting, a panel upgrade, and running thermostat wiring through walls that were never designed for it. In Sun Valley and Rafael Meadows, this job often surprises homeowners with its scope and cost. We give a written fixed price before any work starts, so you know the full picture before cutting a check.
Short-cycling in Gerstle Park usually comes down to two things: a thermostat placed in a cold hallway that gets drafts when the fog rolls in, or a furnace overheating because the old ductwork restricts airflow. Both are common in that neighborhood’s 1920s and 1930s homes. The fix may be as simple as relocating the thermostat or cleaning the blower, or it may point to a failing limit switch. We diagnose it before recommending any repair, and the written price covers exactly what we found.
Often, yes. Original panels in Rafael Meadows homes are frequently 60-amp or 100-amp units from the 1950s with no dedicated 120V circuit for a modern furnace. A new furnace with an efficient blower can draw enough on startup to trip the breaker. City inspectors in San Rafael flag this during permit review, and you can’t get a final sign-off without addressing it. We’ll tell you during the estimate whether your panel will pass, and we handle the coordination so you’re not stuck between an electrician and an HVAC crew.
San Rafael’s temperature can swing 30 degrees or more between the afternoon sun and the predawn fog, especially on open hillsides. That means a furnace sized only for the coldest night will short-cycle badly during milder afternoons, and one sized for average temperatures will leave you cold when the wet season hits. In split-level hillside homes, single-zone systems overheat the sun-exposed upper floors while the lower floor stays cold. Proper load calculation, not a rule-of-thumb swap, is the difference. Call (559) 245-8807 for an honest assessment based on your actual house, not a square-footage chart.
Get Your San Rafael Furnace Repaired Today
Cold mornings in San Rafael don’t wait, and neither should you. Call Brandt HVAC Co San Francisco at (559) 245-8807 for a free estimate on furnace repair in San Rafael. You’ll get a live person on the phone, a technician introduced by name and photo before arrival, and a written price before any work begins. If we can’t fix it right, we’ll make it right. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it applies to every furnace we repair in San Rafael.
Written by Devin Marlowe, Owner at Brandt HVAC Co San Francisco, serving the San Rafael community.