Gas furnaces and air handlers
Chinook repairs and replaces gas furnaces and electric air handlers around the clock, and will tell you which one is in your closet before anything gets touched.
Chapter 01
A furnace burns fuel to heat a metal heat exchanger, and in the Tri-Cities that fuel is usually natural gas. An air handler has no flame at all. It runs electricity through a metal coil Chinook calls a heat strip, which glows from the intense heat, a lot like the element in a toaster.
Either way the job after that is identical. The blower pushes air across the hot element, and the ducts carry it through the house. Knowing which one you own tells the technician where to look first, and it tells you what a repair is likely to involve.
Because the Tri-Cities sees many weeks of freezing weather, a furnace paired with an air conditioner is not unusual. The heat pump with an air handler is now the more common pairing here. Heat pumps run in nearly freezing temperatures these days, so the air handler's emergency heat strip does not switch on nearly as often as it once did.
A Chinook technician crouched in a basement measuring the base of a furnace plenum, drop cloth laid down on the floor
Most no-heat calls trace back to a short list. A clogged filter makes the whole system work harder and pushes the monthly bill up. A belt-driven blower can throw its belt, and a loud squeal is the warning. Worn ball bearings announce themselves with a scraping sound whenever the fan runs, usually on a furnace that is several years old.
Two of the six are safety problems rather than comfort problems: a cracked heat exchanger and a failed ignition. The last is the thermostat, which is worth a look before anyone books a visit. Check that it is not forcing the fan to run around the clock, that the set temperature is above the room temperature when it is in Heat mode, and that the batteries are alive.
All six are written up one by one further down this page.
Chapter 03
A cracked heat exchanger can release carbon monoxide into the home. It is very toxic to breathe and impossible to detect with human senses, which is why it is treated differently from a squeaky belt. Most furnaces built today carry a safety shut-off, but a cracked exchanger still needs to be repaired by a licensed professional, not reset and forgotten.
This is the part of the visit where a checklist earns its time. The Chinook tune-up tests safety controls and examines electrical connections on every system it touches, which is the reason regular service is the best protection for what Chinook calls your home's most expensive appliance. Members get two of those visits a year, and you can read what they include on the maintenance plan page.
When a furnace or air handler stops working, Chinook provides repair and service 24 hours a day, even on weekends for emergencies. If the system is old, keeps needing repairs or struggles to hold the temperature, a replacement is usually the better conversation, and a heat pump paired with an air handler is the option most Tri-Cities homes end up with.
Chinook Heating & Air. Washington contractor LIC# CHINOHA998MS. Call (509) 736-1121.
Six common problems
Two of these can put your household at risk, so they come first. The other four are the wear-and-tear faults a tune-up is meant to catch. Not sure which one you have? Read what the maintenance plan checks or ask the crew when you request service.
Safety fault
Cracks in the heat exchanger can be dangerous. Carbon monoxide can be released into the home, and it is very toxic to breathe in and impossible to detect with our human senses. Most furnaces today have a safety shut-off, but a cracked heat exchanger has to be fixed by a professional.
Safety fault
If the pilot light or electric ignition fails, the fuel will not burn and there is no heat. Electric ignition is most common in new furnaces, and when it breaks it needs a professional to fix it.
Heat out on a weekend? Chinook is there for your 24 hour comfort. Call (509) 736-1121 and ask for emergency service.