Furnace Repair in Tampa, FL
Gas furnaces, electric furnaces, and the heat strips in your air handler — yes, Tampa homes have them, and yes, they fail on the coldest night of the year. We fix all of them, 24/7, with upfront written pricing and most repairs done in a single visit.
Why Furnaces Fail Here — Usually on the Coldest Night
A Tampa furnace might run 300 hours a year instead of 1,500 up north. That sounds easy on the equipment, but the opposite problem bites: months of sitting idle in a humid attic corrodes igniters, gums up flame sensors, and lets sequencer contacts oxidize. Then a January cold snap arrives, half the city calls for heat at once, and the weakest part in the chain fails. Here's what we actually find and fix.
Igniter failure (gas furnaces)
The hot-surface igniter is the single most common gas furnace failure. It's a brittle ceramic element that cracks with age — the furnace clicks, tries to start, and shuts back down. Replacement typically runs $150–$300 including diagnosis.
Limit switch tripping
A high-limit switch shuts the burner off when the furnace overheats, usually because of a clogged filter or a weak blower. If it trips repeatedly, the furnace short-cycles and blows lukewarm air. Repairs run $150–$350 depending on the underlying cause.
Heat strips burned out (electric)
Most Tampa homes heat with electric heat strips in the air handler — either as the primary heat source or as heat pump backup. Burned elements, failed sequencers, and tripped thermal limits are the usual culprits. Element or sequencer replacement runs $200–$500.
Blower motor problems
The blower runs for both heating and cooling, so in Tampa it works nearly year-round. Failing capacitors, worn bearings, and burned-out PSC motors cause weak airflow or no airflow at all. Capacitors are cheap; motor replacement runs $400–$600.
Flame sensor fouling (gas)
A dirty flame sensor makes the furnace light for a few seconds and then shut down — a safety response to what it thinks is a failed ignition. Cleaning or replacing the sensor is one of the least expensive furnace repairs, usually $150–$250 all-in.
Thermostat and control faults
Sometimes the furnace is fine and the call for heat never arrives — a failed thermostat, loose low-voltage wiring, or a blown control board fuse. We diagnose the whole chain before replacing parts, and we can pair the fix with a smart thermostat upgrade.
Not sure whether you have a gas furnace, an electric furnace, or a heat pump with backup strips? Look at the unit in your garage, closet, or attic: a gas furnace has a vent pipe and a gas line; an electric air handler has neither. Either way, the number to call is the same — and if your problem is broader than the furnace itself, our general heating repair page covers every heating system we service, including heat pump repair.
What Furnace Repair Costs in Tampa
Real ranges from the repairs we do most, parts and labor included. Your written quote comes before any work begins, and the diagnostic fee is applied toward the repair.
Minor — Sensors & Igniters
$150–$300
Flame sensor cleaning or replacement, hot-surface igniter replacement, blower capacitors, thermostat wiring faults. The majority of no-heat calls land here.
Moderate — Strips & Switches
$250–$500
Heat strip elements, sequencers, high-limit switches, pressure switches, and draft inducer issues. Usually still a same-day, single-visit fix.
Major — Motors & Boards
$400–$600+
Blower motor replacement, control boards, gas valves. If a major repair meets an old furnace, we'll show you the replacement math too — no pressure either way.
When a Heat Pump Conversion Beats Another Furnace Repair
Tampa is arguably the best heat pump market in America. Winters are mild enough that a heat pump almost never needs backup heat, and it replaces two systems — your furnace and your AC — with one. If your gas furnace is 12+ years old and its paired AC is on the same clock, putting $600 into a blower motor can be the wrong spend.
The running-cost gap is real. Electric heat strips are the most expensive way to heat a Florida home — every watt in is one watt of heat out. A heat pump moves heat instead of making it, delivering roughly three units of heat per unit of electricity. For homes heating with strips today, a conversion typically cuts winter heating costs by 60–70%.
We lay out both paths in writing: the honest repair quote, and a conversion quote through our heating installation team, sized with a real load calculation. Most customers who convert say the deciding factor wasn't the sales pitch — it was seeing both numbers side by side.
A Quick Gut-Check
Repair
Furnace under 10 years old, repair under $600, AC in good shape — fix it and move on. Most calls end here.
Lean repair
Furnace 10–14 years old but the paired AC is newer — a matched heat pump swap later makes more sense than a rushed one now.
Convert
Furnace and AC both 12+ years old, major repair quoted, or you heat with strips and dread the winter TECO bill.
~3x
Heat delivered per dollar of electricity by a heat pump versus electric strip heat — the core of the conversion math.
Furnace Repair Questions
Do homes in Tampa really have furnaces?
Yes — more than most people think. A meaningful share of older Tampa neighborhoods (Seminole Heights, South Tampa, Temple Terrace) have natural gas furnaces, and nearly every home with central air has an air handler with electric heat strips, which is functionally an electric furnace. Those strips fail just like any heating equipment: burned elements, bad sequencers, tripped limits. If your 'emergency heat' isn't working or your gas furnace won't ignite, that's exactly what this service covers.
How much does furnace repair cost in Tampa?
Most furnace repairs in the Tampa area run $150–$600. Simple fixes — flame sensor cleaning, igniter replacement, a capacitor, a heat strip sequencer — sit at the low end. Blower motor replacement, control board issues, and gas valve work land at the top. We charge a diagnostic fee that's applied toward the repair, quote the full price in writing before touching anything, and never bill by surprise.
Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
The usual suspects, in order: the thermostat fan is set to ON instead of AUTO (so the blower runs between heat cycles), a clogged filter tripped the high-limit switch, the igniter or flame sensor failed so the burner never lights, or — on heat pump systems — the backup heat strips failed and the system is running in defrost. A cold-air complaint during a January cold snap is our most common winter call, and most are fixed in a single visit.
Should I repair my furnace or convert to a heat pump?
If the furnace is under 10 years old and the repair is a few hundred dollars, repair it. But if you're facing a major repair on an aging gas furnace paired with an equally old AC, a heat pump conversion often wins: in Tampa's mild winters a heat pump heats for roughly a third of the cost of electric strips and replaces both your heating and cooling in one system. We'll give you both numbers — the honest repair quote and the conversion quote — and let the math decide.
Do you repair furnaces at night and on weekends?
Yes. We're open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and Tampa's cold snaps don't schedule themselves — the coldest nights of the year are exactly when marginal igniters and heat strips finally quit. Call (813) 358-4610 any time and a live person will get a technician moving. We service all brands of gas furnaces, electric furnaces, and air handlers under FL License #CAC18220411.
No Heat Tonight? We're Already Awake.
24/7 furnace repair across Tampa Bay — gas, electric, and heat strips, all brands, upfront written pricing. 4.9 stars across 100+ Google reviews. FL License #CAC18220411.
Call 813-358-4610Furnace Repair — Tampa Bay Service Area
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