Heating repair in Houston is mostly an electric story. Some homes here burn gas, but a large share warm up with a heat pump or with electric resistance coils built into the air handler. Those systems fail in different ways from a furnace, and some of their normal habits look like breakdowns. This page explains how they work, what common symptoms mean, how freezes and grid stress affect them, and when it is time to talk about replacement.
Houston Air & Heating is a phone line, free to call, and it never sends anyone out itself. Day or night, calls to (832) 662-4107 reach an automated assistant that confirms you need heating or cooling help and asks a few questions about the problem. Then it puts you through to a locally owned heating and cooling business in the Houston area that operates on its own. That company diagnoses the system, prices the work and is paid by you.
If you have gas heat, with burners, a flue pipe and a gas line at the unit, start with our furnace repair page, which covers gas safety and the furnace start-up sequence in detail.
How Houston homes heat
Texas heats with electricity far more than the country as a whole. A 2021 EIA analysis of Census figures found electricity was the primary heat source in 61 percent of Texas homes, compared with 39 percent nationally. Three kinds of systems cover nearly every house in greater Houston, and you can usually tell them apart in a minute.
| System | How it makes heat | How to recognize it | Parts that often fail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat pump | Moves heat from the outdoor air into the house with the same refrigerant circuit that cools in summer, run backward | The outdoor unit hums along in winter too; the thermostat may list Aux or Emergency heat | Defrost board or sensor, reversing valve, outdoor fan motor, refrigerant leaks, backup strips |
| Electric strip heat | Current runs through coils in the air handler that glow hot, like a big toaster | No gas service at the unit; the outdoor unit stays quiet while warm air comes out inside | Burned-out elements, sequencers or relays, limit switches, blower motor |
| Gas furnace | Burners heat a metal heat exchanger and a blower moves air across it | A gas line and a vent pipe at the unit | See the furnace repair page |
Not sure which one is yours? Take two pictures before calling: what the thermostat display shows, and the rating plate stuck on the indoor unit. From those, the heating company you reach can often name the system type and the parts most likely involved.
What a heat pump does on a Houston winter day
A heat pump does not create heat by burning anything. It pulls warmth out of the outdoor air, even chilly air, and carries it inside. That is why Houston's mild winters suit it, and why it works harder on the few nights that drop well below freezing. A Department of Energy Building America field study notes that standard air-source heat pumps lose heating capacity faster once it falls below about 30 degrees outside and lean more and more on supplemental electric heat.
On damp, cold mornings, frost can coat the outdoor coil. To clear it, the system runs a defrost cycle: Department of Energy training material describes the heat pump periodically switching into cooling mode so warm refrigerant melts the ice, usually for about 5 to 15 minutes. The outdoor fan may stop, you may see a cloud of steam, and the indoor unit typically turns on its electric strips so the air coming from the vents does not feel cold. A few minutes later, normal heating resumes.
Aux heat and emergency heat, in plain terms
Aux on the thermostat is the system calling for its backup strips by itself, during defrost or when the heat pump alone cannot keep up. Emergency heat is a manual switch that turns the heat pump off and runs only the strips. DOE guidance calls electric resistance heat inefficient and advises keeping its use to a minimum, and it recommends thermostats designed for heat pumps, which raise the temperature gradually so the strips are not called in for every small change. If you have been on emergency heat for days, or Aux shows up on mild afternoons, the heat pump itself probably needs attention.
Heat pump and electric heat symptoms in Houston homes
Match what you see to a row, then describe it when you call. The last column is the technician's work: refrigerant, wiring and electrical parts are not homeowner jobs.
| What you notice | Likely causes | Safe for you to check | What the technician checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| No heat and no fan at all | Thermostat mode or batteries, a tripped breaker, failed board or transformer | Mode set to Heat, setpoint above room temperature, fresh batteries, reset a tripped breaker once | Power at the air handler and outdoor unit, low-voltage controls |
| Air from the vents stays cool for a long stretch | Heat pump stuck in cooling mode, reversing valve trouble, low refrigerant, backup strips not working | That the thermostat says Heat, not Cool or Auto with an odd setpoint | Reversing valve and its coil, refrigerant charge, a forced defrost, strip amperage |
| Outdoor unit covered in thick ice that will not clear | Defrost control or sensor failure, outdoor fan problem, low charge | Clear leaves and debris from around the unit; do not chip at the ice | Defrost board and sensor, fan motor, charge |
| Aux heat on most of the time, even on mild days | The heat pump stopped contributing and the strips carry the load | Whether the outdoor unit runs while the heat is on | Compressor and fan operation, thermostat wiring and settings |
| Strip heat only warms a little | One or more heating elements or sequencers burned out | The filter, since poor airflow can trip a heat limit | Each strip's amp draw, sequencers, limit switches |
| Burning dust smell on the first cold day | Dust on coils that sat idle all summer | New filter, then let it run; the smell should fade | Needed only if the smell persists or smells like hot plastic |
| Breaker for the air handler keeps tripping | A shorted element, wiring fault or failing motor | Reset once only; if it trips again, leave it off and call | Element and wiring insulation, motor amps, breaker sizing |
Electric heat strips draw a lot of current. A breaker that trips repeatedly, a hot plastic smell or scorched wiring at the air handler is a reason to turn the system off at the thermostat and wait for a professional, not to keep resetting it.
Freezes, the Texas grid and electric heat
Because so many homes here run on electric heat, a Houston freeze hits the power grid and the furnace closet at once. EIA notes that the ERCOT grid serving most of Texas has limited connections to the rest of the country, so it relies mainly on power generated inside the state. In February 2021 that grid could not keep up. A University of Houston Hobby School survey afterward found that 69 percent of Texans lost electricity at some point during the storm, for an average of 42 hours, and nearly half lost running water too.
For a heat pump home, an outage means no heat at all, and the hours right after power returns are hard on equipment: thousands of strips and compressors start at once, often in the coldest part of the night. A few habits help:
- Lower the thermostat a few degrees during a cold snap so the strips cycle less.
- Skip emergency heat unless the heat pump has actually failed; Aux will step in on its own.
- Keep leaves, trash cans and drifting debris away from the outdoor unit so it can breathe and drain its defrost water.
- Each fall, run the heat once on a cool evening and change the filter; ENERGY STAR suggests a fall checkup for heating before contractors get busy.
- After an outage, give the system a few minutes once power is back. If it runs but blows cool, or a breaker trips, call instead of resetting it again and again.
When replacing the heating side makes sense
In a Houston home the heating and cooling equipment are often the same machine or share one air handler, so a heating breakdown can open a bigger question. Repair usually wins when a single part fails on equipment in decent shape. Replacement deserves a look when:
Repair is usually reasonable
A burned-out heat strip, a failed sequencer, a defrost sensor or a fan motor on a system that otherwise heats and cools well, with no history of refrigerant leaks.
Get a replacement price too
The compressor or coil has failed on an aging heat pump, refrigerant leaks keep returning, the home has never heated evenly, or you have been living on emergency heat because the heat pump no longer works.
Inside City of Houston limits, replacing heating equipment needs a mechanical permit pulled by a contractor licensed by TDLR and registered with the city, followed by an inspection. Ask whether the price includes it. The repair or replace guide walks through the decision, and the AC installation and replacement page covers what a new system involves.
What a careful heating technician checks
- Runs the system in heating mode and confirms the outdoor unit is really producing heat, not just the strips
- Forces a defrost cycle to prove the defrost board, sensor and reversing valve work
- Measures the amp draw of each heat strip so you know how many still work
- Checks airflow, the filter and the blower, since poor airflow trips heat limits
- Explains the finding and gives a written price before starting any repair
No heat, or heat that never catches up? Call any hour. Tell the assistant whether you have a heat pump or electric heat, what the thermostat shows and what the outdoor unit is doing.
Heating repair in Houston through the free line
You call once and describe the problem, and the local company gets a brief rundown as the call connects. When nobody there is free, the details you gave, including your name, number and area, go to the company so it can phone you back. The line never charges you; the company you hire sets its own prices.
- Dial the numberAn automated assistant picks up (832) 662-4107 at any hour and asks what you need help with.
- Say what is wrongTell it whether the trouble is cooling or heating, where in the Houston area you are, and what the system is doing.
- Reach a local companyYour call is transferred to an independent, locally owned HVAC company, which gets a short summary of your problem before it answers.
- Work it out with themThat company inspects, quotes, repairs and bills you directly. If nobody can pick up, your name, number and problem are passed on for a call back.
About this line: Houston Air & Heating is a free phone line, not an HVAC contractor. It answers your call and connects you with an independent local heating and air conditioning company, which inspects, quotes and does the work, and which you pay directly. Companies may pay a referral fee. You never pay the line. Read how the line works.
Verify the license before work begins. Texas requires anyone contracting to do air conditioning, refrigeration or heating work to hold an Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (ACR) Contractor license from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Ask the company for its ACR license number, then confirm it on the TDLR license search (opens in a new tab). The line does not check this for you.
Related services and guides
- Furnace Repair
- HVAC Tune-Up and Maintenance
- AC Installation and Replacement
- Repair or Replace Your AC or Furnace?
- Is an HVAC Tune-Up Worth It?