Brisbane is a small hillside city on the bay side of the mountain, with steep streets and both older and newer homes. For heating and cooling in Brisbane, those two facts decide most things. The slope sets where equipment can go and how it gets there; the age of the house decides whether there are ducts worth building on.
What a steep lot changes
- Where the outdoor unit sits. It needs a level, stable base, either a pad on prepared ground or a bracket on the wall, with room around it for airflow and service. On a slope, the spot also has to stay clear of water running downhill.
- Line sets and drains. The refrigerant lines between the indoor and outdoor units have length limits set by the manufacturer, and the condensate drain works by gravity, so the route matters as much as the equipment.
- Getting equipment in. A furnace or air handler on a lower level, under the house or up a flight of outside stairs takes planning. Access is part of the estimate, so it is settled before the work day.
- Levels that never match. Heat rises, so in a home stepped into the hill the upper rooms run warm while the lower ones stay cool, all on one thermostat. The hillside heating guide and hot upstairs explain the causes; zone control is one of the fixes.
Older homes: a case for mini-splits
An older house may have a furnace with only a few duct runs, or rooms the ducts never reached. Opening finished walls and ceilings to add ducts is slow and disruptive. Ductless mini-splits avoid that: each indoor head heats and cools its own room, the lines pass through a small hole in the wall, and one outdoor unit can serve several heads. A wall bracket keeps the outdoor unit off a sloping yard. If an existing ductless system is acting up, see mini-split repair.
Newer homes: central AC or a heat pump
A home with a forced-air furnace and sound ducts can add cooling the conventional way: AC installation puts a cooling coil on the furnace and a matching unit outside. Cooling needs more airflow than heating, so duct size is checked first; where the ducts fall short, ductwork modification comes before the new equipment. A heat pump is the alternative: the same outdoor unit cools in warm weather and does most of the heating, with the furnace kept as backup if you want it.
Furnace repair
Most furnace repair calls trace back to a handful of parts. Newer furnaces light with an igniter and prove the flame with a flame sensor, and both wear out. Older furnaces may still have a standing pilot; one that keeps going out often points to a worn thermocouple or a draft, as the pilot light out page explains. A clogged filter can overheat the furnace and trip the limit switch, so it shuts down before the house warms up.
Before you call, it is safe to:
- set the thermostat to heat, a few degrees above room temperature;
- check the furnace power switch and its breaker;
- replace a dirty filter;
- make sure the furnace door panel is closed, since an open panel keeps the furnace from running.
If the house smells of gas, do not touch switches: leave, and call the gas utility or 911 once you are outside. If a technician finds a cracked heat exchanger, the furnace stays off until the heat exchanger or the furnace is replaced.
Booking a visit
Someone answers the phone 24/7, and technician appointments are available from 8 AM to 8 PM, all seven days. The written estimate covers the equipment, the route and the access, and we go over it with you before anything starts, with no hidden fees. Our work carries a warranty on parts and labor. We also serve Daly City and South San Francisco, from our office in Colma.