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Furnace and Heating Repair in North Myrtle Beach
Our winters are short, but when a cold front pushes through and the heat doesn't come on, a house near the water gets chilly and damp in a hurry. Coastline handles furnace and heating repair across North Myrtle Beach, Little River, Longs and the Brunswick County beach towns. Before anything else, here's something most homeowners on this coast don't realize: the equipment you call your furnace is probably not a furnace at all. In most local homes, it's an electric air handler working with a heat pump outside. Some homes do run a gas furnace. Whatever is heating your house, we'll figure out what's wrong and get it warm again.
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What Kind of Heating System Do You Have?
Knowing which system you have explains a lot about the problem and the fix. You can usually tell in about thirty seconds, and our tech will confirm it on the visit.
Heat Pump With Electric Backup Heat
This is the most common setup on the Grand Strand. The outdoor heat pump provides most of your heat by pulling warmth out of the outdoor air. Inside, the air handler holds a set of electric heat strips that help out on the coldest mornings and while the outdoor unit melts frost off its coil.
How to Tell
Your outdoor unit runs in the winter, there's no gas line going to the indoor unit, and your thermostat has settings like "AUX" or "EM HEAT."
Electric Air Handler Only (Electric Furnace)
Some older homes and condos heat entirely with electric heat strips and an air conditioner outside that only cools. It works, but resistance heat is one of the most expensive ways to warm a home, which is why many of these homeowners eventually switch to a heat pump.
How to Tell
The outdoor unit sits quiet all winter while the indoor unit blows warm air.
Gas Furnace
Less common here, but you'll find them in some homes, usually paired with a central air conditioner. A gas furnace burns natural gas or propane to heat the air.
How to Tell
There's a gas line and a vent pipe connected to the indoor unit, and you may see a small flame through the viewing window when it's running.
Common Heating Problems We Repair
No Heat at All
Burned-Out Heat Strips or Failed Sequencers
Heat strips are coils of wire that glow hot, a lot like the elements in a toaster. Over the years they can burn through, and the sequencers, the switches that turn the strips on one stage at a time so they don't overload your electrical panel, can fail and leave them off. When that happens, the blower runs but the air coming out of the vents is cool.
Tripped Limit Switch
Every heating system has a high-limit switch, a safety device that shuts the heat off if the unit gets too hot. A clogged filter or blocked return is the most common reason it trips. If the heat runs for a few minutes and then quits over and over, that's a strong hint.
Gas Furnace Ignition Problems
On gas furnaces, the igniter lights the burners and the flame sensor confirms the flame is actually there. A cracked igniter or a flame sensor coated with grime will make the furnace try to start, light for a few seconds and shut down. It's one of the most common furnace calls we run, and usually a straightforward fix.
Weak Heat or a Winter Power Bill That Jumped
The Heat Pump Has Quit and the Strips Took Over
If the outdoor heat pump stops doing its job, the backup strips can keep the house warm on their own, at a much higher cost. If your bill doubled and the thermostat shows "AUX" all day, the heat pump needs attention. Our heat pump repair page explains what usually causes it.
Airflow Problems
A failing blower motor, a dirty filter or leaky ductwork in a crawlspace or attic can leave rooms cold even when the system is producing plenty of heat. We check where the heat is going, not just whether the equipment makes it.
Burning Smell or Tripped Breakers
A brief dusty smell the first time the heat runs each fall is normal: dust burning off the heat strips. A strong, lasting burning smell, a smell of hot plastic, or a breaker that trips again after you reset it is not normal. Turn the system off at the thermostat and call.
Heating Safety Checks on Every Visit
Heat is the part of HVAC where safety matters most, and our techs check it on every heating repair. On electric systems, that means the wiring and connections feeding the heat strips, since loose connections running high current can overheat. On gas furnaces, it means checking that the venting carries exhaust safely outside, the burners are firing cleanly, and the heat exchanger, the metal chamber that keeps combustion gases separate from the air you breathe, shows no cracks or rust-through. If we find a problem, we'll show you, explain it plainly and tell you what it takes to make it right. Every home with gas appliances should also have working carbon monoxide detectors.
Heating Repair Questions
Is my "furnace" actually a heat pump?
In this area, very likely. If an outdoor unit runs in the winter and there's no gas line at the indoor unit, your heat comes from a heat pump with electric backup.
When should I switch to emergency heat?
Only when the heat pump itself has stopped working, for example if the outdoor unit is iced solid or damaged. Emergency heat runs only on the electric strips, so it keeps you warm but costs more, and it's meant to get you through until the heat pump is repaired.
Can a heat pump really keep my home warm here?
Yes. Grand Strand winters are mild enough for a heat pump in good working order to handle most nights on its own, with the backup strips covering the coldest hours. Coastline handles HVAC repair in North Myrtle Beach for every kind of heating system, and if you're ready to move off an old electric furnace, see heat pump replacement.
Heat pump, AC and heating repair for North Myrtle Beach, Little River, Calabash and the north end of the Grand Strand. Licensed in South Carolina and North Carolina.
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