Stop signs: leave the home first
If you notice a gas smell, a carbon monoxide alarm, smoke, or a strong burning or electrical smell, leave the home and call your gas utility or emergency services from outside. Don't use this website or the request form for it. Northdial does not offer emergency response.
A faint dusty smell for a few minutes when the heat first runs for the season is common. If a smell is strong or does not fade, treat it as a stop sign.
Signs you need a repair
Choose 01 Repair on the form if any of these sound familiar. Tick the closest symptoms and add a sentence about what you noticed.
Signs by system
Heating
- No heat, or not enough heat
- Furnace starts, then shuts off
- Blows cool air while set to heat
- Heat pump iced over and not clearing
Cooling
- No cooling, or warm air from the vents
- Outdoor unit not running
- Ice on the refrigerant lines
- Water pooling near the indoor unit
Either
- New banging, squealing or grinding
- Turns on and off every few minutes
- Thermostat blank or not responding
- Some rooms much hotter or colder than usual
Safe checks you can do first
These take a few minutes and sometimes solve the problem. If they don't, tell us what you tried: it speeds up the diagnosis.
Safe checks before you request
- Thermostat set to the right mode (heat or cool) and a setting that should call for it
- Fresh thermostat batteries, if it uses them
- A tripped breaker: reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off and tell us
- Filter: replace it if it is visibly clogged
- Vents and returns open and not blocked by furniture
- Outdoor unit clear of leaves, snow and debris
Leave these to a technician
- Opening equipment panels
- Gas valves and gas lines
- Wiring and electrical parts
- Refrigerant lines and connections
- Resetting a breaker that keeps tripping
What happens on a repair visit
- QuestionsWe ask what you've noticed and what you've already checked.
- DiagnosisThe technician tests the system to find the cause.
- Plain explanationWhat's wrong and why, in words you can follow.
- Written estimateThe repair, written down for you to approve.
- Repair once approvedOr a recommended next step if repair isn't the sensible choice.
What to have ready
- System type: furnace, air conditioner, heat pump or ductless
- Its rough age, if you know it
- When the problem started
- What you've already checked