Furnace and heating repair in Herndon.
Heat pump and furnace repair in Herndon, inside the Town and out in Floris, Franklin Farm, McNair and Dranesville, with the repair priced from our book first.
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
Herndon heats with heat pumps in town and a mix of gas and electric outside it.
Inside the Town of Herndon, about six in ten owners heat with electricity. That means a heat pump outside, an air handler inside, and electric strips as the backup. When the heat pump quits heating, those strips can carry the house well enough that nobody notices until the electric bill comes.
The other four in ten town owners heat with gas, so it’s a furnace with a flame sensor, an igniter and an inducer to keep up. Out on the county side the mix turns over by neighborhood: Floris leans gas, McNair’s owners heat with gas about seven times in ten, Dranesville leans electric, and Franklin Farm is close to half and half.
Inside the town and in Franklin Farm and Dranesville, most houses went up in the 1970s and 80s, so the furnace or heat pump in them now is usually the second or third. That’s the age when a control board or a blower motor starts the repair-or-replace conversation, and both numbers belong on the table.
If it has to be replaced in the dead of winter, the paperwork follows the town line. Inside the town it goes to the Town of Herndon, which takes an emergency permit application for heat before its usual tax and business license checks are cleared. Outside it, a gas furnace swap takes a Fairfax County permit and a chimney vent certification, even like for like.
What’s heating the houses across Herndon.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Farm | 1985 | single-family houses, about 9 in 10 | electricity, about 5 in 10 | Mostly electric heat, usually heat pumps with backup strips. |
| Herndon | 1981 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Mostly electric heat, usually heat pumps with backup strips. |
| Dranesville | 1984 | single-family houses, nearly all | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Mostly electric heat, usually heat pumps with backup strips. |
| McNair | 2003 | condo and apartment buildings, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Condo and apartment buildings: gas or electric, in compact closet units. |
| Floris | 1990 | single-family houses, about 8 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | 1980s and 90s houses, most on their second furnace. |
| Hutchison | 1979 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | electricity, about 7 in 10 | Mostly electric heat, usually heat pumps with backup strips. |
| Sully Square | 2015 | condo and apartment buildings, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Condo and apartment buildings: gas or electric, in compact closet units. |
Herndon houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
The Town of Herndon
Inside the town limits. Floris, Franklin Farm, McNair and Dranesville, on the Fairfax County side, are counted by the Census as places of their own.
- Median home built1981 Census
- Built before 1980about 4 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 4 in 10 Census
- Heated withelectricity, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 4 in 10 Census
- Electric heat here usually means a heat pump with electric strips as backup, and a heat pump stuck on those strips shows up on the electric bill.
What furnace repair costs in Herndon.
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 Herndon usually does.
Frost on the outdoor coil that never clears
A heat pump frosts over on cold, damp mornings and clears itself every so often with a defrost cycle. If the coil stays white for hours, or turns into a block of ice, the defrost controls or the airflow have failed and the backup strips are heating the house.
The heat pump blows cool air
A few minutes of cool air in winter is a defrost cycle, and that’s normal. Cool air all the time, or emergency heat running all day, is a call.
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 Herndon.
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 Herndon.
Questions worth asking anybody who comes out, us included.
Do they work on heat pumps and gas furnaces equally?
In Herndon you need both. Inside the town most owners heat with electricity; in Floris and McNair most heat with gas. A company that only knows one is guessing at the other.
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.
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Heating repair questions from Herndon.
My heat pump runs all day in January and the house won’t warm up. Is it broken?
Not always. On the coldest mornings a heat pump runs long and leans on its backup strips, and that’s normal. If it never shuts off on a mild day, the air at the registers feels cool, or the outdoor coil stays iced over, it needs a look. The diagnostic visit is $99.
Is the blower the same job on a heat pump and a gas furnace?
Close to it. A heat pump’s air handler and a gas furnace both move the house’s air with a blower wheel and a motor, and in a 1970s or 80s Herndon house that wheel has had a long time to collect dust. Pulling and cleaning it runs $300 to $440; a new blower motor is $670 to $2,400.
Does the Town of Herndon need to know about a furnace repair?
No. A repair takes no permit. A replacement does: inside the town from the Town’s Building Inspections office, outside it from Fairfax County.
How much does furnace repair cost in Herndon?
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 Reston
- Furnace repair in Sterling
- Furnace repair in Great Falls
- Furnace repair in Oakton
- Furnace repair in Chantilly
More from SwiftPro in Herndon
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 Herndon 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.