Furnace Repair in Shreveport, LA, From Experienced Technicians
Shreveport's first freeze usually comes around the middle of November, and furnace repair season starts with it. That's the night a lot of furnaces get switched on for the first time since February, and it's one of our busiest nights of the year. If the heat won't kick on, or it blows but the house stays cold, call us at (318) 459-7575. A technician drives over from our Bossier City location and finds the problem for $99.
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How Shreveport Homes Are Heated
It depends a lot on when the house was built.
- Older neighborhoods like Highland, South Highlands and Broadmoor have plenty of gas furnaces tucked into attics and hall closets. Some houses still have an old floor furnace or wall heater too.
- Many mid-century ranch homes in Shreveport pair a gas furnace with central AC.
- Newer homes are more likely to have a heat pump, sometimes with gas backup.
Attic furnaces are the hardest to work on and the easiest to forget. They sit through a hot summer, collect dust, and get no attention until the first cold night. A fall heating tune-up catches most of what goes wrong with them.
Floor Furnaces, Wall Heaters and Central Units
Furnace repair covers more kinds of equipment than you'd find in a newer town, because the houses here span a full century.
Floor furnaces. You'll know one by the metal grate in a hallway floor. They were common in homes built before central heat caught on, and a good number still run. The grate gets hot enough to burn, so keep rugs, toys and pets off it. Most floor furnaces light from a standing pilot, and a pilot that won't stay lit usually points to a worn thermocouple.
Wall furnaces. These sit inside an interior wall, often in an older addition or a den the main ducts never reached. They need a clear vent up through the roof and a few feet of open space in front. If one smells strongly every time it starts, have it looked at.
Central gas furnaces. These are by far the most common setup in Shreveport. Yours might sit in the attic, a hall closet or the garage. Either way, the same handful of parts wear out: igniters, flame sensors, inducer motors and blowers.
Electric furnaces and heat pumps. No flame means no gas smell and no pilot, but heat strips and relays still burn out. A heat pump also has an outdoor half that can ice up, which we cover below.
Furnace Problems During a Hard Freeze
On February 16, 2021, Shreveport Regional Airport hit 1 degree. The old record for that date was 20 degrees, set back in 1903. Furnaces ran nonstop, heat pumps leaned on their backup strips, and a lot of systems simply couldn't keep the house warm.
A night that cold is rare, but a hard freeze or two every winter isn't. A few things help:
- Don't crank the thermostat. Jumping it up 8 or 10 degrees makes a heat pump switch to its electric strips, and the power bill shows it. Raise it a couple of degrees at a time.
- Keep the outdoor unit clear. Sleet and ice can pack around a heat pump. Clear what you safely can by hand, and don't chip at the coil.
- Change the filter before a cold snap. A clogged one can make a gas furnace overheat and shut itself off right when you need it.
- Leave the vents open. Closing off rooms doesn't save much and can strain the system.
What to Do if You Smell Gas
Don't touch the thermostat or flip any light switches. Get everyone out of the house, then call your gas company's emergency line or 911 from outside. Once the gas side is safe, we'll check the furnace.
What Happened Before the Heat Stopped Working
When you call us, the tech will ask what happened right before the trouble started. It's a better clue than most people think.
- It's the first cold night of the season. A furnace that's been idle since spring often has a dusty flame sensor or a sticky part that only shows up on startup.
- Someone just changed the thermostat. New thermostats get wired wrong more often than you'd expect, especially on heat pumps, where a single wire decides whether the outdoor unit heats or cools. Tell us about anything that was swapped.
- The heat faded slowly over a few weeks. That points to airflow: a filter packed solid, a weak blower motor, or a duct that's come loose in the attic.
- The same thing happened last winter. A repeat failure usually means the first repair treated a symptom. A flame sensor that keeps getting dirty, for example, can be a sign of a venting or combustion problem upstream.
How to Stay Warm While You Wait
If you are waiting on a technician on a cold Shreveport night, a few safe steps help:
- Close the blinds and curtains after dark, and open them on the sunny side during the day.
- Gather everyone into a few rooms and shut the doors to the rest of the house.
- Only use a space heater that has a tip-over shutoff. Plug it straight into the wall, and keep it 3 feet from anything that can burn.
- Never heat the house with a gas oven, a grill, or a generator running indoors. Carbon monoxide has no smell.
- If the low is in the teens, let the faucets on outside walls drip so the pipes don't freeze.
Common Furnace Repairs in Shreveport
Most heating calls here come down to a dirty flame sensor, a worn-out igniter, a pressure switch, or a heat pump stuck in defrost. Our guide to furnace and heat pump repair breaks down how each one shows up and what fixing it takes.
Furnace Tune-Ups Before Winter
The first freeze is when many furnaces get switched on after sitting idle since spring. A tune-up in October gives the tech time to clean the burners and flame sensor, test the igniter, check the venting and run the furnace through a full cycle while it's still mild outside. If a part is weak, you replace it on your own schedule instead of at midnight, which is the point of a fall furnace tune-up.
Furnace Repair or Replacement?
A furnace can run for many years, so we don't push replacement on age alone. A cracked heat exchanger or the same part failing again is a better sign it's time. If it's time, the estimate on a new furnace or heat pump is free, and furnace installation in Shreveport starts with a Manual J load calculation so the new unit fits the house.
Shreveport Heating Questions
Why does my heat pump run nonstop when it's below freezing?
That's normal on the coldest nights. A heat pump pulls heat out of the outdoor air, and below about 30 degrees there's less to pull, so it runs longer and its backup strips help out. If it runs all day at 45 degrees and the house still won't warm up, call us.
Can someone fix my furnace tonight in Shreveport?
Yes. The phone gets picked up at 3 a.m. the same as at 3 p.m. Tell us what the furnace is or isn't doing, and we'll tell you on that call when a tech can be there.
Do you work on old furnaces in Shreveport's historic homes?
Yes, any brand and any age. If a part is no longer made, we'll tell you what your options are.
What happens on a furnace repair visit in Shreveport?
The technician checks the thermostat, filter, igniter or flame sensor, venting and blower, then explains what failed and what the options are. If a part has to be ordered, we'll tell you what that means for your repair before we leave.
Why does my furnace blow cool air for the first minute?
A gas furnace warms its heat exchanger before the blower kicks on, and that first push of air through cold ducts can feel cool. If the air is still cold after two or three minutes, something's wrong, often the igniter or flame sensor on a gas furnace, or the heat strips on an electric one.
Will you check for carbon monoxide during a furnace repair in Shreveport?
Yes. On gas furnaces we look at the flame, the venting, and the heat exchanger wherever it can be seen, because a crack there is how carbon monoxide gets into a house. Any house that burns gas for heat needs a working CO alarm close to the bedrooms.
My floor furnace pilot keeps going out. Can it be fixed?
Yes, in most cases it can. A worn thermocouple is the most common cause, and it's an inexpensive part. If the furnace is so old that parts are gone, we'll go over your choices, including a ductless mini-split for that end of the house.
Call for Furnace Repair in Shreveport
Our phone, (318) 459-7575, is answered around the clock. When summer comes back, the same crew handles AC repair in Shreveport and the rest of our HVAC service in Shreveport. The trucks head out from our Bossier City location, across the Red River from Shreveport.