Furnace & Heating Repair in Lago Vista, TX

When the heat goes out, you want a real person who knows what they're doing. Real Texas Plumbing - Heating and Air is a family-owned, licensed heating and air company based at 20811 Dawn Dr in Lago Vista, with a second location in Lakeway. Our technicians repair the heating systems Lago Vista homes actually have: heat pumps, electric furnaces, propane furnaces and ductless mini-splits. We find out what's wrong, tell you in plain English, give you a written price, and fix it the same visit whenever the part is on the truck.

Call (512) 662-2949

Open Mon to Fri 7:30 AM to 8 PM and Sat 8 AM to noon. No-heat calls get priority and the next available time slot. Our trip charge is $65, and we apply it toward your repair when you schedule the work.

Licensed and insured · Texas Responsible Master Plumber RMP44420 · TDLR AC Contractor TACLA22663C · Family-owned since 2018 · 4.9 stars on Google

Heater not working? Check these five things first

Most no-heat calls start with the same quick check. It takes about five minutes and needs no tools.

1. Thermostat. Confirm it is set to Heat, not Cool or Off, and the set temperature is above the room temperature. If the screen is blank, try fresh batteries.

2. Breakers. Look for a tripped breaker for the indoor unit (often labeled Furnace, Air Handler or AHU) and the outdoor unit (Heat Pump or Condenser). Flip it fully off, then on, once. If it trips again, stop and call us; something is drawing too much current.

3. Filter. A filter packed with dust or cedar pollen chokes airflow and makes the system shut itself off on high limit. Pull it out; if you can't see light through it, replace it and wait 30 minutes.

4. Service switch and panel door. Near the furnace or air handler there's a switch that looks like a light switch, and the blower door has a safety switch. Make sure the switch is on and the panel door is seated.

5. Give it five minutes. Heat pumps and furnaces run a start-up sequence after a thermostat change. Wait five minutes before deciding it's dead.

Still cold? Call (512) 662-2949 and tell us what you checked. It shortens the diagnosis.

No heat in freezing weather, or someone in the house who can't handle the cold? Our emergency heating repair page covers the safety steps and how to protect your pipes until we arrive.

Safety first: when to stop and call

• Smell propane or gas? Leave the house, don't touch light switches, and call your propane supplier or 911 from outside. Call us after.

• Carbon monoxide alarm going off? Get everyone, including pets, outside and call 911.

• Burning or electrical smell, scorched panel, or smoke? Turn the system off at the breaker and call us.

• Heat pump outdoor unit coated in thick ice that hasn't cleared after a few hours? Switch the thermostat to Emergency Heat so you stay warm, and call us. Don't chip the ice off the coil.

• Please don't bypass a safety switch, relight a pilot or burner you're unsure about, or heat the house with an oven, grill or unvented propane heater. Those can cause carbon monoxide or a fire.

Common heating problems in Lago Vista homes, and what they usually mean

Heat pump blowing cold air

Usually the heat pump is in defrost mode, the reversing valve is stuck, or refrigerant is low. Defrost is normal and lasts about 10 minutes; the outdoor unit may steam. Cold air for more than 15 minutes with the thermostat calling for heat means it needs a technician.

Heat pump stuck on Emergency Heat or Aux Heat

The electric strips are doing all the work. The house stays warm, but your Pedernales Electric bill will show it. Common causes are a failed outdoor fan motor, a bad defrost board, a failed capacitor, or a refrigerant leak. Call us before the bill does.

Furnace won't ignite, or lights and shuts off

On propane and gas furnaces this is most often a dirty flame sensor, a failed hot-surface ignitor, a tripped high-limit switch from a clogged filter, or a pressure switch that won't close. On propane homes, an empty or low tank and a frozen regulator are the first things we rule out in a freeze.

Electric furnace or air handler blowing lukewarm air

One or more heat strips or their sequencers have failed. The blower runs, the air is barely warm, and the system runs for hours. This is a common repair in Lago Vista's older electric-only homes.

Heater short-cycling

Turning on and off every few minutes points to a clogged filter, a dirty flame sensor, an oversized system, or a thermostat placed where a vent blows on it.

Banging, grinding, squealing or clicking

A bang at startup on a gas furnace is delayed ignition and needs attention. Grinding or squealing is a blower motor or bearing. Rapid clicking with no ignition is the ignitor or control board trying and failing.

Thermostat says Heat but nothing runs

A failed transformer, a blown low-voltage fuse on the control board, a float switch tripped by a clogged condensate drain, or a thermostat wiring fault.

How a heating repair visit works

1. You call and tell us what you're seeing. We ask what the system is doing, what you've checked, and how old the equipment is. No-heat calls go to the next available slot.

2. We find the real cause. We test power, thermostat signals, airflow, ignition or heat strips, the blower, refrigerant pressures on heat pumps, and the safety controls, and show you what failed. No guessing.

3. You get a written price before we start. You see the price for the fix, and the $65 trip charge comes off it. If replacement makes more sense, we say so and give you that number too.

4. We fix it and test it. We run a full heat cycle, check temperature rise across the system, clean up, and answer your questions.

What does heating repair cost in Lago Vista?

The trip charge is $65, and it is applied toward the repair when you schedule the work with us. Repair pricing is given in writing after diagnosis and before work starts, so there are no surprises on the invoice. If a repair isn't worth the money, we'll tell you.

What moves the price: which part failed (a capacitor or flame sensor is a small job; a blower motor, control board or reversing valve is a larger one), the type and age of the system, how hard the unit is to reach (attic installs are common on the lake), and whether the part is on the truck or has to be ordered.

Repair or replace your heater?

Repair it if the system is under about 12 years old, this is its first real problem, and the fix is a small share of a new system's price. Think about replacing when the system is 12 to 15 years or older, it has needed repairs two winters in a row, the repair is more than a third of replacement cost, or the problem is a safety issue like a cracked heat exchanger or a failing compressor.

• How old is the system?

• Have you paid for repairs more than once in the last two years?

• Is this repair a big share of what a new system would cost?

• Is the problem a safety issue, like a cracked heat exchanger?

We give you both numbers and let you decide. If another company has already told you to replace, we're glad to give a second opinion for the same $65 trip charge. See our heating replacement page for what a new system involves.

Heating systems we repair

Repair is one part of our heating services in Lago Vista, which also cover tune-ups, replacement, thermostats and duct sealing.

• Heat pumps, the most common heating system in Lago Vista. If yours is stuck on Emergency Heat or Aux, it works, but it's running electric strips at several times the cost.

• Electric furnaces and air handlers with heat strips, common in older lake homes without propane.

• Propane furnaces, the gas furnaces we see most around the lake.

• Ductless mini-splits, popular for additions, garages and lake-house bunk rooms.

• Smart and conventional thermostats, including Nest, ecobee, Honeywell and White-Rodgers.

Why heaters fail in Lago Vista

Heating gets a short, hard season here. Systems sit idle from March to November, then get asked to run flat out during a hard freeze, which is when weak capacitors, tired ignitors and marginal heat strips give up. The February 2021 freeze, the February 2023 ice storm and the January 2024 cold snap all brought waves of no-heat calls across the Lake Travis area, often while Pedernales Electric was restoring power. Mountain cedar season runs late December through February and clogs filters faster than any other time of year, which trips high-limit switches and shuts furnaces down. And a lot of homes around the lake are weekend or seasonal places where a failed heater goes unnoticed for weeks.

A heating tune-up in October or November catches most of this before the first freeze.

Heating repair for Lago Vista lake and weekend homes

A lot of Lago Vista homes sit empty for stretches, and the area has seen hard freezes. If your house sits empty, a smart thermostat that alerts your phone when the indoor temperature drops is the cheapest insurance against frozen pipes. We install them. If you come back to a cold house, call us and tell us how long it sat; we'll check the plumbing side while we're there, since we're plumbers too.

Heating repair in Lago Vista, Jonestown and around Lake Travis

Our shop is at 20811 Dawn Dr, Unit 706, Lago Vista, TX 78645, and we also have a Lakeway location at 2802 Flintrock Trace, Lakeway, TX 78738. We repair heating all over Lago Vista, including Highland Lake Estates, Bar-K Ranches, Lago Vista Country Club Estates, Tessera on Lake Travis, Lakeshore Ranch, Marshall's Point, Rancho Cielo, Waterford on Lake Travis, Montechino and Bella Vista. We also serve Jonestown, Point Venture, The Hollows and Lakeway, plus Bee Cave, Leander, Cedar Park, Anderson Mill, Crystal Falls Parkway and Austin.

What neighbors say about our heating work

"They came out the same day, found the issue, and fixed it." Ajinoam M., Lago Vista

"The owner himself came out to my place to fix our heater." Kristen F.

Stop the next breakdown

A yearly heating tune-up catches worn parts before the first cold snap. Our Real Home Care plan covers plumbing and heating and air together.

Related services: heating tune-ups, heating replacement, emergency AC repair and AC repair.