--- title: "Heating Repair in Columbia, TN | Root House" url: https://roothousemechanicals.com/service-areas/columbia-tn/heating-repair updated: 2026-09-29 business: "Root House Mechanicals" phone: "(615) 426-9344" text: "(615) 426-9344" email: info@roothousemechanicals.com hours: "Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m." --- # Heating and Furnace Repair in Columbia, TN > Root House handles furnace and heat pump repair for Columbia homes, whether your heat runs on natural gas or electricity. Licensed and insured techs do the heating work, and one call covers it. There's no charge for the diagnostic visit, and the price is set before work starts. Call or text (615) 426-9344. - Call (615) 426-9344 (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) - Text (615) 426-9344 - Email: info@roothousemechanicals.com ## Gas furnace or heat pump: which one heats your Columbia home? Columbia has both kinds of service. Atmos Energy supplies natural gas, and Columbia Power & Water Systems (CPWS) supplies electricity. So the heat in your house could come from a gas furnace, an electric heat pump, or a heat pump paired with a gas furnace as its backup. The difference matters when the heat quits. A gas furnace burns fuel, so it depends on an igniter, a flame sensor and clear venting. A heat pump moves heat indoors from the outside air, and when it can't keep up it leans on backup electric heat. A furnace that won't light and a heat pump blowing cool air are two different problems with two different fixes. ## What does a Columbia cold snap do to a heat pump? It makes the heat pump work its hardest. January nights in Columbia average below freezing. As the outdoor air gets colder, a heat pump draws less heat from it and calls on its backup heat more often, and that shows up on your CPWS bill. Every so often the outdoor unit also pauses to melt frost off its coil. A puff of steam and a short break in warm air are normal during that defrost. A unit that stays caked in ice, or a system running on backup heat all the time, is not normal. Get it looked at before the next hard freeze, not during it. ## What if you smell gas near the furnace? Leave the house first. Don't flip light switches, adjust the thermostat or try to relight anything on the way out. From outside, call Atmos Energy, Columbia's natural gas provider, or 911. Once the gas company has checked it and any leak is dealt with, call or text us at (615) 426-9344 about the furnace itself. A carbon monoxide alarm near the bedrooms is worth having in any home that burns gas. ## What heating repair covers - **Diagnosis.** Starting with the thermostat, the breaker, the filter and the gas supply, then the parts inside the furnace or heat pump, to find the part that failed before anything is replaced. - **Gas furnace repair.** Igniters, flame sensors, gas valves, pressure switches, inducer motors, limit switches and control boards. - **Electric furnaces and heat strips.** Heating elements, sequencers, relays and the breakers that feed them. Loose or burned connections are a common cause. - **Heat pump heating problems.** Reversing valves, defrost controls, outdoor fan motors and refrigerant leaks, plus the backup heat that helps on the coldest days. - **Blowers and airflow.** Blower motors and capacitors, and the clogged filters and closed vents that make a furnace overheat and shut itself off. - **Safety checks.** On gas furnaces, the flue and venting, the flame, the safety switches, and a look at the heat exchanger for cracks. More: [Heating and Furnace Repair across Middle Tennessee](https://roothousemechanicals.com/hvac/heating-repair) ## Urgent: No heat, or a gas smell? 1. If you smell gas, leave the house now. Don't flip switches on the way out. Call the gas company or 911 from outside. 2. If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, get everyone outside and call 911. 3. No heat in a freeze: check that the thermostat is set to heat, check the breaker, and replace a clogged filter. 4. Stay warm safely. Plug space heaters straight into the wall, keep them 3 feet from anything that can burn, and turn them off when you leave the room. Never heat the house with a gas oven or stove. 5. Open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls so the pipes stay warmer. 6. Then call us at (615) 426-9344. We work Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Call (615) 426-9344. ## How we price it - The diagnostic visit: free. - Firm price given before any work starts. - Priced per job. Each job is priced on its own. - Why prices stay down: low overhead, and the work done right the first time with current methods, equipment and quality materials, so customers are not paying for callbacks. ## Heating Repair in Columbia: common questions ### Will my gas furnace run if the power goes out? No. Most gas furnaces need electricity for the blower, the igniter and the controls. The National Weather Service warns that ice storms in Middle Tennessee can knock out power for days, so plan a backup way to stay warm before winter. ### My furnace lights, then shuts off. What is wrong? Often it's a dirty flame sensor, which tells the furnace the flame went out when it didn't. A blocked vent or a clogged filter can cause the same thing. It's a common repair, and we'll confirm the cause before replacing any part. ### Why does my heat pump blow lukewarm air? Heat pump air is warm, but not as hot as a gas furnace, so it can feel lukewarm at the vent. That is normal. If the air feels cool, the house keeps losing ground, or the outdoor unit isn't running, something needs attention. ### When should I use the auxiliary heat setting? Only when the heat pump itself has stopped working. The backup heat runs electric strips, which cost more to run than the heat pump. If you find yourself relying on it, call or text (615) 426-9344 so the heat pump gets fixed. ### How often should a furnace or heat pump be checked? Once a year is a common schedule, ideally in the fall before the first cold night. A check catches worn parts, dirty burners and weak capacitors while the weather is still mild. ### Do I need a permit to replace a furnace or heat pump in Columbia? Yes, in most cases. Inside city limits, the City of Columbia's inspectors cover both gas and mechanical work. For homes outside city limits, Maury County's Building and Zoning Office can tell you what's required. ## Related - [Plumbing Repair in Columbia](https://roothousemechanicals.com/service-areas/columbia-tn/plumbing-repair) - [Water Heaters in Columbia](https://roothousemechanicals.com/service-areas/columbia-tn/water-heaters) - [AC Repair in Columbia](https://roothousemechanicals.com/service-areas/columbia-tn/ac-repair) - [Electrical Repair in Columbia](https://roothousemechanicals.com/service-areas/columbia-tn/electrical-repair) - [Everything we do in Columbia, TN](https://roothousemechanicals.com/service-areas/columbia-tn)