An HVAC emergency in Fremont falls into one of two groups. Safety emergencies (a gas smell, a carbon monoxide alarm, smoke or sparks from the equipment) start with getting people out of the house and calling the gas utility or 911. Urgent breakdowns (no heat on a cold night with someone vulnerable at home, no cooling on a hot afternoon, water coming through a ceiling, a breaker that keeps tripping) start with a phone call to us. Phone support is available 24/7 for homes in Fremont, Newark and Milpitas, and same-day service is available.
Get out first: safety emergencies
You smell gas (rotten eggs or sulfur). Do not flip light switches, unplug anything, light a flame or try to restart the furnace. Do not look for the leak yourself. Get everyone outside and call the gas utility or 911 once you are out of the house.
The carbon monoxide alarm sounds. Carbon monoxide has no smell, so the alarm is the only warning you get. Move everyone into fresh air and call 911, right away if anyone has a headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion or unusual sleepiness. Do not silence the alarm and go back to bed.
Smoke, flames or sparks from the equipment. Leave and call 911. If there is only a hot electrical or burning-plastic smell and no smoke, switch the system off at the thermostat and at its breaker, then call us.
After responders have cleared the house, the furnace or system should stay off until the cause is found and fixed. That is where we come in.
Urgent but not dangerous: what to do while you wait
No heat on a cold night. Check that the thermostat is on Heat, the furnace’s service switch and breaker are on, and the filter is not clogged. If it still will not run, use electric space heaters plugged straight into a wall outlet, with clear space around them. Never heat the house with a gas oven, a range or a grill.
No cooling on a hot afternoon. Fremont’s hottest days come from June to September. If the outdoor unit hums but its fan does not spin, switch the system off; running it that way can damage the compressor. Close the blinds on the sunny side, run fans and keep older adults and small children in the coolest room.
Water leaking from the indoor unit or through a ceiling. Turn the system off at the thermostat, and at the breaker if water is near wiring. Catch the water and keep people away from a sagging ceiling. A clogged condensate drain is the usual cause.
The breaker trips when the system starts. Reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off. Repeated resets can burn out a motor or a compressor.
Ice on the AC lines, the indoor coil or a heat pump’s outdoor coil. Set the system to Off (on a heat pump, to Emergency heat if the house is getting cold) and let the ice melt. Do not chip at it.
What can usually wait for a regular visit
A blower that is noisier than usual but still heats, one room that runs warmer than the rest, a smart thermostat that dropped off Wi-Fi while the system still runs, or a short dusty smell the first time the furnace runs in the fall. If you are unsure which group your problem is in, call and ask.
How emergency service works
- Call us, any hour. Phone support is available 24/7. Tell us what the system is doing, any code on the thermostat or furnace, and whether anyone at home is at risk. We tell you what to shut off in the meantime.
- Scheduling. Same-day service is available, and visits run seven days a week. We book the first available technician.
- Diagnosis and price. The regular diagnostic fee applies, with no overtime charges for evenings or weekends. You see the repair price before any work starts.
- Repair. Our trucks carry common furnace, AC and heat pump parts, so failures such as an igniter, a flame sensor or a capacitor can often be fixed on the spot. Larger parts may need to be ordered, in which case we make the system safe and schedule the return.
- Follow-up. Any further work the visit uncovered is scheduled separately. Repair work carries a 90-day workmanship warranty.
Smart thermostats as an early warning
Many smart thermostats can send an alert to your phone when the indoor temperature goes above or below a limit you set, or when the thermostat goes offline. That is useful for a rental, an older relative’s home or a house left empty over the holidays. A thermostat that suddenly goes blank can also point to a power problem at the furnace rather than a broken thermostat. See our smart home guides for setup ideas, and keep carbon monoxide alarms outside the sleeping areas of any home with gas appliances.
Repair now, decide later
An emergency visit should make the system safe and working again, not rush you into a replacement while the house is cold. The one exception: a furnace with a cracked heat exchanger should not be run. The common causes behind emergency calls are covered under furnace repair, AC repair and heat pump repair. City pages: Fremont, Newark, Milpitas.