Heating Company in Seattle & the Eastside

Most people land here because something has gone wrong, or because they suspect it is about to. This page covers what we do for each kind of heating system, what a visit actually involves, and how to tell whether you are looking at a repair or a replacement. If the heat is already out, our emergency heating repair page covers same-day response across Seattle and the Eastside; for a system that is running but not right, start with heater repair.

NW Mechanical is family-owned, based in Woodinville, and has been working on heating systems across Seattle and the Eastside since 1977.

Start with the system you have

Heating advice is close to useless until you know what is in the house. Most homes here run one of four things.

A gas or electric furnace

Warm air through ducts and vents. The most common setup in the region, and the one with the clearest lifespan — typically fifteen to twenty years here, helped by our mild winters. Common faults are ignitors, flame sensors, blower motors and control boards. We handle furnace repair, annual servicing and replacement. See also our full furnace services page.

A heat pump

One system that heats in winter and cools in summer. Increasingly the answer when an old furnace dies in a house with no air conditioning, because it solves both problems in a single installation. Our climate suits them — heat pumps lose efficiency in genuine deep cold, and we do not get much of it. See heat pump installation for ducted, whole-home systems, or ductless heat pumps if the house has no ductwork. We also install geothermal.

A boiler with radiators or radiant floors

Common in older Seattle, Mercer Island, Medina and Capitol Hill homes. Quiet, even heat, and long-lived when looked after. Hydronic work is a large part of what we do rather than a sideline, which is worth knowing — many heating companies in this area do not service boilers at all. Start at boiler systems or radiant heat.

Ductless mini-splits

Wall-mounted units heating and cooling individual rooms, with no ductwork. Useful in additions, converted spaces, and older houses where running ducts is impractical. We install them and we repair them.

Not sure which you have? Describe it on the phone and we will work it out — it takes about thirty seconds.

What we do

Repair. Diagnosis and fix, on any of the systems above, including equipment other companies have declined to work on.

Maintenance. Annual service before the season. Most winter failures start as something small that a technician would have caught in autumn.

Installation and replacement. New systems sized to the house rather than copied from the old unit — a surprising number of systems we replace were oversized from the day they went in. If you are weighing a furnace against a heat pump, we install both.

Emergency repair. For no heat in the middle of a cold snap.

What happens when you call

We ask what the system is doing, what it did before, and how old it is. That usually tells us what to bring.

A technician inspects the system, tests the components most likely to be at fault, and tells you what they found in plain terms — what needs doing now, what can wait, and what it costs. Pricing is agreed before any work starts, and we do not begin something you have not approved.

If the honest answer is that your system has years left and needs a modest repair, that is what we will tell you. We are not paid on what we sell you.

Repair it, or replace it?

The question almost everyone asks. The short version: below about twelve years, repair is usually the right call. Past about eighteen, money spent on repairs is money you will not have for the replacement that is coming anyway. In between, it depends on which part failed and how the house has been feeling.

Replacement tends to win when several things are true at once — the unit is past fifteen, a significant repair is on the table, bills have been climbing, some rooms are no longer comfortable, and you have no air conditioning and would like it. Any one of those alone is not decisive.

One exception: a cracked heat exchanger is not a repair-or-replace question. That unit gets replaced.

Before winter

September and October are the months to deal with this. Once the first cold week arrives, every heating company in the region is running no-heat calls, equipment lead times stretch, and homeowners end up making a five-figure decision in a hurry with the family in coats.

If your system is over twelve years old, or last winter was not comfortable, book a service now while there is time to look at it properly. It is also worth checking current rebates before committing to a replacement, as utility incentives can move the numbers meaningfully.

Where we work

Across Seattle and the Greater Eastside, including Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Bothell, Woodinville, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Sammamish, Newcastle and the Points communities.

Our shop is in Woodinville, which is why Eastside response times are good.

Why homeowners here call us

We have been doing this in the same area since 1977, which means we have worked on most of the equipment in these houses at least once, including systems that have not been manufactured for thirty years. Our technicians are trained across furnaces, heat pumps, boilers, hydronics and geothermal, so we have no commercial reason to steer you toward one type over another.

We give transparent estimates before work begins, we explain repairs in language that means something, and we do not add charges you did not agree to. Our maintenance plan members get priority scheduling in the busy weeks. Financing is available on replacements.

We also handle commercial heating, though most of what we do is residential.