Furnace and heating repair in Falls Church.
Boiler, furnace and heat pump repair for Falls Church, City and county side, with the repair priced from the book before a panel comes off.
The diagnostic visit is $99, and a flame sensor cleaned is $95 to $180 from our published price book.
- Prices in writing, first
- Furnaces, heat pumps and boilers
- Dedicated HVAC team
Get your heating repair priced
Boilers, gas furnaces and heat pumps, often on the same Falls Church street.
Falls Church is one of the two places, with McLean, where boilers are a regular part of our heating work. These feed radiators or baseboard in some of the older houses, and they fail in their own ways: a circulator pump that hums without moving water, a zone valve stuck shut so one floor stays cold, a pressure gauge that keeps creeping down because the system is losing water somewhere.
Most other houses here burn gas in a furnace. About seven in ten owners in the City and in West Falls Church heat with gas, and in Lake Barcroft about eight in ten, in houses whose median went up in 1958. A furnace in a house that old has been swapped before, and it often vents up the same masonry chimney as the water heater.
Bailey’s Crossroads goes the other way: more than half its owners heat with electricity, which mostly means heat pumps with backup strips, and Idylwood is close to an even split. Those calls are about defrost boards, reversing valves and a thermostat stuck on emergency heat.
Maintenance-plan visits are a bigger part of our Falls Church work than anywhere else we work regularly. With Comfort+, the heating maintenance visit falls every autumn, so a weak igniter or a fouled flame sensor turns up on a mild October afternoon instead of the first cold night.
What’s heating the houses across Falls Church.
Census figures for each place, and what that usually means for the heat. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | What the heat usually is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Falls Church | 1957 | single-family houses, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Gas furnaces in older houses, often sharing a chimney with the water heater. |
| Bailey’s Crossroads | 1980 | condo and apartment buildings, about 6 in 10 | electricity, about 5 in 10 | Condo and apartment buildings: electric heat or small closet units. |
| Idylwood | 1975 | condo and apartment buildings, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 5 in 10 | Condo and apartment buildings: gas or electric, in compact closet units. |
| City of Falls Church | 1964 | condo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Condo and apartment buildings: gas or electric, in compact closet units. |
| Lake Barcroft | 1958 | single-family houses, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 8 in 10 | Gas furnaces in older houses, often sharing a chimney with the water heater. |
| Seven Corners | 1972 | condo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Condo and apartment buildings: gas or electric, in compact closet units. |
| Pimmit Hills | 1961 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 9 in 10 | Gas furnaces in older houses, often sharing a chimney with the water heater. |
Falls Church houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
The City of Falls Church
ZIP 22046, plus a few City addresses in 22042 and 22044.
- Median home built1964 Census
- Built before 1980about 6 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 3 in 10 Census
- Most homes arecondo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 7 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 5 in 10 Census
- Most heat here is a gas furnace, so most calls come down to the flame sensor, the igniter, the inducer motor or a pressure switch.
- Older houses often share one chimney between the furnace and the water heater, which matters the day either one is replaced.
The Fairfax County side
22041 to 22044: West Falls Church, Idylwood, Lake Barcroft, Seven Corners and Bailey’s Crossroads.
What furnace repair costs in Falls Church.
The same price book as the rest of our site. The diagnostic visit is $99, and the tech prices the repair before starting it.
- Flame sensor cleaned$95 to $180
- Igniter or flame sensor replaced$240 to $410
- Blower wheel pulled and cleaned$300 to $440
- Thermostat replaced$300 to $640
- Control board$550 to $1,180
- Blower motor$670 to $2,400
- Repair diagnostic visit$99
Often same-day, and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.
With Comfort+ membership, $20 a month or $199 a year, the diagnostic visit is included, any service is 15% off, and a heating maintenance visit comes every fall.
What a failing furnace in Falls Church usually does.
The boiler’s pressure keeps falling
A gauge that drops a little every week means the loop is losing water somewhere: a weeping valve, a radiator, a pipe inside a wall. Topping it up hides the leak, and finding it is the repair.
The radiators are cold at the top
Air trapped at the top of a radiator stops hot water from filling it. Bleeding it takes a radiator key and a rag; if it keeps coming back, or the boiler bangs, it’s worth a visit.
It lights, then shuts off
The burners fire and go out a few seconds later, over and over. That’s usually a dirty flame sensor, and cleaning it takes about ten minutes.
What the county says about your heat in Falls Church.
City of Falls Church
The Arlington County Fire Department, which offers home safety checks to City of Falls Church residents, asks on its home checklist whether a forced-air furnace’s filter is changed yearly and its venting cleaned, and whether the furnace sits clear of combustible walls and ceilings. Source.
Fairfax County
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue says to have the heating system cleaned and checked by a professional every year, and to keep anything that burns at least three feet from the furnace and the water heater. Source.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue names a faulty gas furnace or water heater as a carbon monoxide source, says to have gas appliances inspected every fall, and to put a CO alarm on every floor. Source.
How to pick the best furnace repair company in Falls Church.
Questions worth asking anybody who comes out, us included.
Will the same company work on the boiler and the heat pump?
A Falls Church street can have a radiator house next to a heat pump townhouse. Some heating outfits stick to forced air, so ask whether the tech works on circulators, zone valves and expansion tanks too.
Will they price the part before they fix it?
Flame sensors, igniters and control boards all have a going rate. A tech who can’t tell you the number before starting is asking you to find out afterwards.
Do they look at the venting, not just the flame?
Getting the burners lit is half a heating call. Ask whether they check the flue and test for carbon monoxide while the panel’s open.
Do they know when a repair isn’t worth it?
A big repair on a furnace past 15 or 20 years deserves a replacement price next to it. A good tech puts both numbers in front of you and lets you choose.
What our customers say.
Called in the morning for a broken furnace. The technician came out same day.
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Heating repair questions from Falls Church.
Does a gas furnace swap in the City of Falls Church need a permit?
Yes, a gas permit. The City’s fee page says a one-for-one gas furnace replacement needs only that, and an equivalent replacement is a permit the counter can issue without plan review. Outside the City line it’s a Fairfax County permit plus a chimney vent certification.
My radiators bang when the heat comes on. Is the boiler failing?
Usually not. Banging is most often air in the system or water sitting where it shouldn’t, and bleeding the radiators is the first fix. If the pressure gauge keeps dropping, or the boiler fires and the house stays cold, that’s a visit, and an easier one in October than in January.
Does anyone in Falls Church still heat with oil?
A few. The Census counts no oil heat among City owners and about one in a hundred on the county side. Oil heat means a nozzle, a filter and a tank to keep up, which is an oil heat company’s work; we don’t work on oil burners. When one gives out, a gas furnace or a heat pump in its place is ours to price.
How much does furnace repair cost in Falls Church?
The diagnostic visit is $99. A flame sensor cleaned is $95 to $180; an igniter or flame sensor replaced, $240 to $410; a control board, $550 to $1,180; a blower motor, $670 to $2,400.
Should I repair it or replace it?
Fix the small parts on almost anything. Before a big repair on an old furnace, look at the replacement number: a furnace alone, keeping the air conditioner you have, runs $4,285 to $14,040 installed, and the HVAC estimator gives your number in about a minute.
Furnace repair in the towns next door.
- Furnace repair in Arlington
- Furnace repair in Annandale
- Furnace repair in McLean
- Furnace repair in Vienna
- Furnace repair in Alexandria
More from SwiftPro in Falls Church
Tell us what your heat is doing.
Call, or book online and pick a window. The tech prices the repair from the book before starting, and if the furnace is at the end of its life you’ll hear that first.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Falls Church and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, 4230 Lafayette Center Dr, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151, (703) 997-9757. Book online, read our reviews, or see every town we serve.