Almost every heating repair we attend in Longview has the same shape: the system worked fine in March, sat untouched until November, and then would not start. That is a diagnosable, usually inexpensive category of fault — provided somebody actually diagnoses it rather than replacing parts until the noise stops.
Napps Heating — Longview & East Texas since 1957
Different symptoms point at genuinely different parts of the system. Describing yours accurately on the phone saves a visit more often than people expect.
The system will not start, or starts and produces nothing. On a furnace this is usually ignition; on a heat pump it is more often a control, reversing valve or refrigerant issue.
The system runs but the house does not warm. Restricted airflow, a dirty filter, a partially blocked burner or duct losses are the usual causes — in that order of frequency.
Starting and stopping every few minutes. It stresses everything, wastes energy, and almost always traces back to overheating from poor airflow or to a system too large for the house.
A bang on startup is delayed ignition — gas accumulating before it lights. Squeals and grinding are usually blower motor bearings. Neither improves with time.
A heat pump that runs constantly, blows cool air, or drives the electricity bill up is usually running auxiliary heat because something upstream is wrong.
Cracked heat exchangers, yellow burner flames and CO concerns. These stop being repair questions and become whether the system should run at all.
Heating diagnosis is mostly a process of elimination in a sensible order. Skipping that order is how people end up paying for parts that were never faulty.
On a modern furnace the sequence is thermostat call, inducer motor, pressure switch, ignitor, gas valve, flame sensor. Each step must confirm before the next runs, so a failure anywhere stops everything. The most common culprits after a long idle period are a cracked hot-surface ignitor and a flame sensor coated in oxide — both inexpensive parts, both frequently misdiagnosed as a failed control board.
Furnace Repair →Classic flame sensor or overheat limit behaviour. A dirty flame sensor lets the burner light and then reports no flame a few seconds later, so the gas valve closes for safety. An overheat limit does something similar but for a different reason — usually restricted airflow, which nearly always means a filter nobody has changed since spring.
Heating Maintenance →That is auxiliary heat. Resistance strips engage when the heat pump alone cannot maintain temperature, and they cost several times as much to run. In this climate they should engage rarely. When they run often the cause is usually a thermostat schedule demanding big recoveries, a low refrigerant charge, or a defrost control fault — all worth diagnosing rather than absorbing on the bill.
Heat Pump Repair →A cracked heat exchanger ends the conversation regardless of cost — that is a carbon monoxide risk and the system should not run. Beyond that, a system over about fifteen years old facing a major component failure is usually better replaced, because the next failure is rarely far behind and you are spending real money to extend something already at the end of its life.
Heating Installation →Indicative only — we test rather than assume.
| Symptom | Common Causes | Usually |
|---|---|---|
| No ignition at all | Ignitor, flame sensor, pressure switch | Inexpensive part |
| Lights then shuts off after seconds | Dirty flame sensor, overheat limit | Cleaning or filter |
| Runs but house stays cold | Airflow restriction, duct leakage | Filter or ductwork |
| Bang on startup | Delayed ignition | Burner service — do not ignore |
| Heat pump running constantly | Auxiliary heat engaging | Charge, defrost or thermostat |
Or call 903-758-6482 — 24/7
Diagnose properly, quote once, and check the safety side whether or not it is what you called about.
What it does, when it started, and when it was last serviced. That alone narrows most faults considerably.
We follow the ignition and control sequence rather than replacing parts hopefully. It is faster and it costs you less.
You approve a figure before anything is replaced, and it does not change afterwards.
On gas equipment, heat exchanger and combustion are checked regardless of the original complaint.
Some heating faults are inconvenient. These are the ones that are not just inconvenient.
Proper diagnosis, honest advice, and gas safety treated as non-negotiable.
Or call 903-758-6482 — available 24/7
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What Longview homeowners ask when the heat stops working.
Four things, in order, and any of them can be the whole problem. Confirm the thermostat is set to heat and calling for a temperature above the current room reading. Check the breaker. Make sure the furnace door panel is properly closed — there is a safety switch that will not let it run otherwise, and it is a surprisingly common cause. And change the filter if it is dirty. If all four check out, call us rather than cycling it repeatedly.
It depends entirely on what failed. Ignitors, flame sensors and capacitors are at the inexpensive end and are also the most common failures after a long idle season. Control boards, blower motors and gas valves are substantially more. We diagnose first and quote a flat rate before doing anything, so you are deciding with a number in front of you.
A dusty smell on the first run of the season is normal — that is nine months of settled dust burning off the heat exchanger, and it clears within about an hour. What is not normal is a smell that persists beyond that, an acrid electrical smell, or anything resembling gas. Those mean switch it off and call.
Yes. The heat exchanger is what keeps combustion gases separated from the air you breathe. A crack lets carbon monoxide into the supply air, and carbon monoxide is odourless. This is the one heating fault where the answer is not about repair cost — a system with a cracked exchanger should not run, and we will tell you so plainly.
Probably not. Heat pumps deliver air that is warm rather than hot, which feels cool against skin temperature and surprises people switching from a furnace. They also run a defrost cycle in cold damp weather where the outdoor unit briefly reverses and the indoor air goes cool for a few minutes, sometimes with steam outside. Both are normal. Constantly cool air, or a bill that has jumped, is not.
Usually, outside of the first cold snap. When temperatures drop suddenly everyone in Longview discovers their heating problem on the same night, and we are honest about the queue when that happens rather than promising a window we cannot hold. No-heat calls during a freeze warning are prioritised.
Furnaces, heat pumps and maintenance each have their own page with more detail.
Same-day diagnosis where we can, flat-rate pricing, and gas safety checked on every visit.
Tell us what the system is doing and when it started. If you have no heat during a freeze warning, please call rather than using the form.
