Furnace and heating repair in Bastrop, TX

Three kinds of furnace, three kinds of fault

Census figures for Bastrop County put electricity as the main heating fuel in 72.9% of occupied homes, piped natural gas in 15.8% and propane in 8.9% (American Community Survey 2020–2024).

Electric furnace or air handler with heat strips. Resistance coils heat the air the blower pushes. Faults are electrical: a strip with a broken element, a sequencer or relay that no longer brings strips on, a tripped limit switch, a breaker that will not hold. A technician measures the current each strip draws and finds the dead one.

Gas furnace. The sequence runs from the thermostat call to the inducer fan, the pressure switch, the hot-surface ignitor, the gas valve, the flame sensor and the limit switch. A dirty flame sensor or a cracked ignitor are the usual first-cold-morning failures, and both are parts.

Propane furnace. The same sequence as gas, plus the tank and the regulator. If the tank ran empty, ask the propane supplier how it handles a refill on a system that ran out; it may need a leak check before the furnace is relit.

Why the first cold morning brings the calls

The median first freeze at the Smithville station is November 19, after a summer in which the heating side has not run at all. Dust settled on heat strips burns off with a smell. Flame sensors coated over the summer drop out after a few seconds. Breakers that held the AC load trip under the strips. Running the heat for twenty minutes on a cool October evening finds these while there is still a choice of appointment.

When to treat it as urgent

• A gas smell, or a carbon monoxide alarm. Leave the house first, then call 911 or the gas provider from outside. That call comes before any repair call.
• No heat on a night forecast below freezing, with young children, older relatives or someone unwell in the house. The Smithville station records about 34 nights a year at or below 32°F; in February 2021 a weather station in Bastrop recorded 6°F (NOAA ACIS station data).
• A breaker that trips again as soon as it is reset. Resetting it repeatedly is the one response that makes it worse.

What the visit and the repair are

The diagnostic visit finds the fault; the repair is agreed afterwards, with the figure in writing. Ask before booking what the diagnostic charge is and whether it is credited toward the repair. On a gas or propane furnace ask, too, for the combustion and carbon monoxide readings to be written down.

When repair stops making sense

A cracked heat exchanger on a gas or propane furnace, a failed blower motor and control board together on an older unit, or repeated strip failures on an air handler that also needs a new coil for an AC replacement. Those are the points where furnace replacement belongs on the table.

What to say when you call

• Electric, gas or propane, and whether a heat pump is outside
• What happens: nothing at all, blower runs cold, burner lights then shuts off, breaker trips
• Thermostat setting and the reading in the house
• Where the furnace sits, usually the attic, a hall closet or the garage
• Your ZIP code and how a technician reaches the unit

Common questions

The heat smells like burning the first time this year. A short dusty smell that fades within an hour is usual. A smell that persists, or smells of hot plastic, is not; see the burning smell page.

The heat pump says "aux heat" all the time. That is a heat pump question, covered under heat pumps.