Furnace repair · Cheney homes and rentals
Cheney furnace repair for owners, landlords and tenants
Old gas furnaces under downtown houses, electric furnaces in rentals near EWU, condensing units off Betz and Salnave Roads. We repair all three and handle the access and billing that come with a college town.
- Drive time
- Twenty-five minutes by the Cheney-Spokane Road or Highway 902.
- Rentals
- Tenant gets the window; owner or manager gets the invoice.
- Usual find
- A coated flame sensor, or a filter forgotten between tenants.
A furnace call from Cheney often starts with a text from a tenant and ends with an invoice emailed to an owner who lives somewhere else. In between, our technician still has to find the fault, and in this town it is usually one of a short list: a cracked igniter in a downtown basement, a flame sensor coated in basement dust, an electric furnace in a campus rental running on half its elements, or a condensate line iced over in a newer house on the edge of town. Knowing the list means the van arrives carrying the parts for all four, and most Cheney no-heat calls close on the first visit as a result.
We work through the furnace’s firing sequence with a meter, read the flue with a combustion analyzer once it runs, and meter each element and sequencer on electric units; twenty to thirty minutes usually names the part. Then you get one written price that already includes the $99 diagnostic, and decline it if you like, in which case the diagnostic is the only charge. A house with no heat gets a same-day window from Monday to Saturday, timed around class and work hours when someone needs to let us in.
Cheney furnace faults by house type
| What you notice | What it usually is | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown basement furnace clicks and quits | Igniter cracked after years of cycles, or a gas valve that stays shut | New igniter fitted; valve voltage and outlet pressure checked |
| Burners catch, then go out in a few seconds | Flame sensor coated by dusty basement air, or a pressure switch | Sensor cleaned or swapped; switch and flue checked |
| Tenant reports cold air from the vents | Filter unchanged since the last lease, or a tripped limit switch | Filter replaced; limit and blower tested |
| Campus rental electric furnace on half heat | One open element out of several, or a sticking sequencer | Each element metered; failed parts replaced, circuit checked |
| Betz Road condensing furnace dead in January | Condensate line iced in an unheated utility room | Line thawed, then rerouted or insulated |
| Burnt smell at the disconnect, breaker trips | Overheated disconnect or a failing breaker on the furnace circuit | Disconnect and breaker tested, the fault pointed out in writing |
Cheney’s three furnace eras, from First Street to Salnave Road
Cheney’s furnaces divide neatly by era. The houses built from the 1900s through the 1950s around First Street and the downtown grid have basements, and in them sit gas furnaces from the 1990s and 2000s, often the second unit installed on an old octopus-duct footprint. Those basements are dusty, and the flame sensors in them coat over faster than anywhere else in town. Octopus ducts were laid out for gravity heat, with wide round runs that a modern blower was never matched to, so when a downtown furnace keeps tripping its limit we measure the temperature rise across it before blaming a part. The rental houses and small multi-family buildings near Eastern Washington University lean on electric furnaces and older gas units, and filters there get changed whenever a tenant happens to remember.
The subdivisions off Betz Road and Salnave Road run newer condensing furnaces, frequently paired with a heat pump. Their typical failure is a condensate line running through an unheated utility room that ices up in January and holds the pressure switch open. In the campus rentals, the typical failure is an electric furnace that has limped along on part of its elements for a season before anyone reports it. And on one Cheney call the tenant’s complaint of cold air came down to a filter nobody had changed since the previous tenant moved out. When a gas furnace’s heat exchanger is suspect in any of these houses, a camera goes in and the owner sees the image, along with written repair and replacement figures, before any decision.
Landlords and property managers fill a large part of our Cheney week. Give us the tenant’s number for access and the owner’s or manager’s contact for billing; the tenant gets the written warranty at the door and the owner gets the invoice with a note on what we found. A burnt disconnect or tripping breaker gets tested during the same visit, with the finding noted for the owner, and our technicians’ EPA 608 Universal certification covers the heat pumps paired with the newer furnaces.
Common Cheney furnace repairs and their starting prices
In Cheney the bills we write most often are for a flame sensor, starting at $100; an electric furnace heating element, starting at $200; and a pressure switch on the newer condensing furnaces, from $175. Each marks where that job begins for Spokane-area customers and is not a quote. The number you approve is written after the diagnostic, includes the $99, and is reduced by up to $50 when the repair is booked online.
| Repair | Price |
|---|---|
| Flame sensor cleaning or replacement | from $100 |
| Electric heat strip / element | from $200 |
| Pressure switch | from $175 |
| Furnace igniter | from $175 |
| Inducer motor | from $450 |
| Limit switch | from $150 |
| Furnace or air handler control board | from $350 |
| Gas valve | from $350 |
Starting prices in the Spokane area for 2026, part and work included. Not a quote: your exact price is in the written estimate after the $99 diagnostic.
Questions we hear
Can you bill the owner for a furnace repair in a Cheney rental?
Yes. Send us the tenant’s number for access and the owner’s or manager’s contact for billing. The tenant gets a texted arrival window and the written warranty at the door; the owner gets the written quote for approval, then the invoice noting the fault and the part. We work with Cheney property managers every week and schedule around classes and shifts.
The electric furnace in our apartment near EWU puts out half heat. Is that serious?
Usually not. Electric furnaces heat with several elements switched on in stages, and when one opens the furnace keeps running at reduced output. We meter each element and the sequencers, replace what has failed, and check the circuit feeding the unit.
Is an old furnace on octopus ducts in a downtown Cheney house worth repairing?
Often it is. A 1990s or 2000s furnace with a failed igniter, sensor or switch is a routine repair even on an old duct layout. If the heat exchanger is cracked, you see it on camera and get repair and replacement figures in writing side by side. If you stop after the diagnostic, the $99 is the whole bill.
How soon can a van reach Cheney on a no-heat day?
A cold house is a same-day call for us, Monday through Saturday. Phone early and a West Plains van, often already working in Airway Heights or Medical Lake, comes down Highway 902 or the Cheney-Spokane Road, about twenty-five minutes from the shop. If no slot is open we tell you during the call. Check the filter while you wait.
Our condensing furnace off Betz Road stops every January. Why?
The condensate line probably runs through a cold utility room or out an exterior wall, and it ices on a hard night. With the drain blocked, the pressure switch will not close and the furnace refuses to light. We thaw the line, then reroute, insulate or heat-trace it so it stays clear for the rest of the winter.
Call, text or book
Owners, managers and tenants can all reach us by phone, by text or through the form on this site, and booking there lowers the repair by up to $50. The $99 diagnostic is inside the written price, never stacked on top.
Book a visit
Tell us what is going on
We call or text back to confirm a time window, usually the same day.
- $99 diagnostic Counted inside the written repair price you approve. Say no to the repair and it is the whole bill.
- Up to $50 off An HVAC repair booked online. Appliance repairs booked online: up to $22 off. Never taken off the diagnostic.
- Up to $500 off A full-system install booked through our site-visit form, first-year tune-up included. The site visit costs nothing.
Prefer to text? Send a photo of the model tag to (509) 370-5361.