Licensed Maryland HVACR contractor · 41 years in Montgomery County 24/7 emergency service
Poteete HVAC · since 1985

Silver Spring, MD · Heating · 24/7 emergency

Heating & Furnace Repair Service in Silver Spring, MD

24-hour no-heat response across Silver Spring

Local detail

Furnace Repair in Silver Spring

Silver Spring no-heat calls cluster in the first hard freeze of the season, when equipment that coasted through a mild November is asked to run continuously. The most common failures we find here are cracked or dirty flame sensors, failed hot surface igniters, pressure switches blocked by condensate in a poorly sloped vent, and float switches tripped by a condensate drain that clogged over the summer.

  • Condensing furnaces installed with insufficient vent slope collect water and nuisance-trip the pressure switch every cold snap
  • Basement furnaces in Four Corners and Northwood often share space with a laundry — lint at the burner is a real and frequent finding
  • We test CO and draft on every visit, which matters most in homes where a water heater still shares an old chimney
Condensing furnace anatomy A cutaway of a high-efficiency gas furnace showing the PVC intake and exhaust, inducer, burners, primary and secondary heat exchangers, blower, filter and condensate drain. Exhaust / intake Inducer draft Heated supply air Secondary HX Primary HX Gas valve ECM blower Filter / return Condensate
Current federal minimums put most new furnaces in the condensing class, which changes the installation more than the appliance: PVC venting instead of the chimney, a trapped and neutralised condensate drain, and a water heater that may be left orphaned in a flue sized for two appliances.

The housing

What we find in Silver Spring homes

Predominantly 1925–1965 brick colonials, Cape Cods and ramblers, with 1970s split-levels in Colesville and White Oak and a dense core of post-2000 high-rise condominiums downtown. A large share of pre-1955 homes were built with hydronic heat and had cooling added decades later.

  • Hot-water and one-pipe steam boilers with cast-iron radiators in pre-1955 homes
  • Converted oil-to-gas forced air, often on undersized original return ductwork
  • Gravity-furnace-era duct systems retrofitted with modern blowers they were never designed for
  • Vertical stack fan coil units and water-source heat pumps in downtown condominium towers
  • Mid-1990s and early-2000s split systems now well past expected service life

Scope of the work

  • Full ignition sequence diagnosis: thermostat call, inducer, pressure switch, igniter, gas valve, flame sense
  • Carbon monoxide test in the flue and in the living space
  • Heat exchanger inspection, with camera documentation when a crack is suspected
  • Gas pressure verification at the manifold and inlet

Utilities · Silver Spring

Electric: Pepco. Gas: Washington Gas. Water: WSSC Water. Permitting authority: Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services (DPS).

Neighborhoods covered

Downtown Silver Spring, Woodside Park, Four Corners, Forest Glen, Sligo Park Hills, Northwood Park, Kemp Mill, White Oak, Colesville, Indian Spring, Seven Oaks, Hillandale and the surrounding 20901, 20902, 20903, 20904, 20905, 20906, 20910 ZIP codes.

Local factors

Conditions that shape this job in Silver Spring

  1. Downtown condominium rules

    The towers along Georgia Avenue, Colesville Road and Wayne Avenue run stacked fan coils or water-source heat pumps on a building loop. Work needs building engineer coordination, a certificate of insurance filed with management, elevator reservations and often weekday-only access windows. We handle that paperwork routinely.

  2. Sligo Creek valley humidity and tree canopy

    Homes along the Sligo Creek corridor and in Sligo Park Hills sit in a shaded, humid microclimate. Heavy tree canopy loads condenser coils with pollen and seed fluff in spring, and the lower solar gain means these homes are frequently over-cooled by systems sized on square footage alone.

Questions

Furnace Repair in Silver Spring — common questions

My furnace works, then quits after twenty minutes, then works again. What is that?
That pattern usually points to the high-limit switch tripping on overheating, which nearly always means restricted airflow — a loaded filter, a closed-off return, or a dirty blower wheel. It can also be a flame sensor losing signal as it heats. Both are same-visit diagnoses, and running the furnace this way stresses the heat exchanger.
My furnace blows cold air. Why?
The most common causes are a failed igniter or dirty flame sensor causing the burner to light and immediately drop out, a tripped high-limit from restricted airflow, or a thermostat set to FAN ON rather than AUTO, which runs the blower continuously between heating cycles. The last one is free to fix and worth checking first.

More furnace repair questions answered on the Maryland service page →

Talk to a technician

Furnace Repair in Silver Spring? Tell us what the system is doing.

Describe the problem and we will tell you what it usually means, what it typically costs to diagnose, and when we can be there. No obligation, no scripted sales call.

Call (301) 555-0182 Request a quote

Mon–Fri 7:00am–6:00pm · Saturday 8:00am–2:00pm · 24/7 emergency service