Heater Not Working in Bullhead City? What to Check and When to Call

Smell gas? Start here

If you smell rotten eggs near the furnace or water heater, do not flip switches, light anything or try to find the leak. Get everyone outside, then call the gas company and 911 from a safe distance. Once the gas side is cleared, we can come check the appliance. Everything below assumes there is no gas smell.

Why heaters fail on the first cold night in Bullhead City

Bullhead City winters are short, but nights in the high 30s and low 40s are common from late November into February. Most homes here barely touch the heat setting from March through October, so the system sits for months while it gets hit with dust, heat and the occasional monsoon storm.

That long rest causes a handful of predictable problems. Dust settles on the flame sensor and burners. Spiders, wasps and mice move into package units and outdoor cabinets. Heat pump reversing valves and defrost controls that have not switched over since spring sometimes stick. Capacitors and relays that took a beating all summer finally give out when the system changes modes.

Homes around town use a real mix of heating: gas furnaces, split heat pumps, package heat pumps and gas packs on a slab or roof, and downflow furnaces in manufactured homes. The checks below cover all of them.

Safe checks you can do before you call

1. Thermostat. Set it to Heat, raise the set point three or four degrees above the room temperature, and wait a few minutes. Replace the batteries if the screen is blank or dim. If it was on Cool or Auto all summer, this alone fixes a surprising number of calls.
2. Filter. Pull the filter and hold it up to a light. If you cannot see light through it, replace it. A choked filter can make a furnace overheat and shut itself off, and it makes a heat pump run long and weak.
3. Breakers and switches. Check the breaker panel for the furnace or air handler, the outdoor unit and any heat strip breaker. Many furnaces also have a switch that looks like a light switch on or near the cabinet. Reset a tripped breaker once. If it trips again, leave it off and call.
4. Furnace door. Most furnaces have a safety switch under the front panel. If the door is loose or was put back crooked after a filter change, the furnace will not start.
5. Outdoor unit. For heat pumps and package units, clear weeds, leaves and anything stacked against the cabinet. Steam and a few minutes of the fan stopping on a cold morning is a normal defrost cycle. Do not chip ice off the coil with a tool.

Please stop there. Do not take off electrical covers, jump safety switches, relight a modern furnace by hand or add refrigerant. Furnaces and heat pumps carry high voltage, and a capacitor can hold a charge with the power off.

What the common symptoms usually mean

• Furnace lights, then shuts off after a few seconds. Often a dirty flame sensor that cannot prove the flame is there. It is a quick fix for a technician and a big part of why a yearly tune-up matters.
• Blower runs but the air is cold. On a gas furnace this can be an igniter, gas valve or pressure switch problem. On a heat pump it can be a stuck reversing valve, low refrigerant or an outdoor unit that is not running.
• Nothing happens at all. Power, a blown low-voltage fuse, a failed transformer or a thermostat problem. If you already checked the breakers and thermostat, it is time to call.
• Clicking but no flame. The furnace is trying to light. A failed igniter, a gas supply issue or a safety switch that will not close are the usual suspects.
• Heat pump coated in ice that never clears. A defrost control, sensor, airflow or refrigerant problem. Running it that way can damage the compressor, so switch it to emergency heat if you have it and call.
• Electric bill jumped and the house is only lukewarm. A heat pump that has quietly stopped heating will fall back on heat strips, which work but cost a lot more to run.

Manufactured homes and package units

A lot of Bullhead City and river valley homes are manufactured homes with a downflow furnace in a closet or a package unit outside with ducts running under the floor. Two things come up again and again on these. First, the duct connection under the home can come loose or tear, so the heat goes into the crawlspace instead of the rooms. Second, package units are a favorite spot for critters over the summer, and chewed wiring or nests in the burner area will stop a heater cold.

If one end of the house is warm and the other is cold, or you feel almost no air at the far registers, mention it when you call. It usually points to the ducts, and fixing them can matter as much as fixing the heater. Our furnace repair page covers manufactured home furnaces in more detail.

What happens when we come out

You get the service call price on the phone before we head your way. Once we arrive, the technician checks the thermostat and power, reads the error codes, tests the ignition and safety controls, checks refrigerant pressures and defrost on a heat pump, and looks at airflow. You get a clear explanation of what failed and the price to fix it before any work starts, and the diagnostic is credited toward the repair when you approve it.

Many no-heat calls come down to a common part like a flame sensor, igniter, capacitor or contactor, and those are often fixed in a single visit. If the system is near the end of its life, we tell you straight and give you both options. Replacement estimates are free, and as a Trane Comfort Specialist we install Trane systems while servicing the other major brands too. Financing is available on approved credit. More on our heating repair service.

Head off the next cold night

The cheapest heating repair is the one caught early. Our seasonal tune-up is $79, limited time $69 through December 31, 2026. On a furnace it covers cleaning the flame sensor and burners, testing the igniter and safeties, and checking the heat exchanger and venting. On a heat pump it covers defrost operation, refrigerant pressures, electrical parts and airflow. Our maintenance plans cover a heating visit in the fall and a cooling visit in the spring, which makes sense in a town where the AC works this hard.

Related reading: why a heat pump blows cold air in winter, mobile home furnace not working, and what SEER2 ratings mean for Bullhead City homes.

Common questions

Why does my heater smell like burning the first time I turn it on? A light dusty smell for the first 15 to 30 minutes of the season is usually dust burning off the heat exchanger or heat strips after months of sitting. It should fade. A smell that lingers, gets stronger, smells like hot plastic or wiring, or smells like rotten eggs is not normal. Shut the system off and call, and for a gas smell leave the house first and call the gas company from outside.

My heat pump is blowing cool air. Is it broken? Not always. Heat pump air feels warm, not hot, usually somewhere in the 90s at the vent, which can feel cool against your hand. It also blows cooler air for a few minutes during a defrost cycle. If the house will not reach the set temperature, the outdoor unit stays caked in ice, or the outdoor fan never runs, it needs a technician.

Will I know the cost before the technician starts? Yes. You get the service call price on the phone before we head your way, and the technician explains what is wrong and prices the repair before doing any work. The diagnostic is credited toward the repair when you approve it.

Should I repair or replace an old heater? Most no-heat calls are a repair, often a flame sensor, igniter, capacitor, pressure switch or control board. If the system is old, has a cracked heat exchanger, or keeps failing, we will show you the readings and lay out repair and replacement side by side. Replacement estimates are free and there is no pressure to decide on the spot.

Do you work on manufactured home furnaces and package units? Yes. Downflow furnaces in manufactured homes and rooftop or slab package units are a big part of what we service in the river valley, including the duct connections under the home.

Air-Exx Heating Cooling and Ventilation LLC is a veteran-owned company serving Bullhead City, Fort Mohave, Mohave Valley, Kingman, Lake Havasu City and the rest of Mohave County, plus Yavapai County. A live person answers 24 hours a day, Monday through Saturday. No heat tonight? Call (928) 565-6440 or text (928) 227-8441 to book heating repair.