Amana central air conditioners, gas furnaces, heat pumps and package units are found in all kinds of Marin homes, from 1960s tract houses in Novato to remodeled older homes in San Rafael. When one stops working, the cause is usually a single part: a thermostat that has lost its settings, a condensate drain that has backed up, a blower that cannot move enough air, or an electrical part on the outdoor unit. We find which one before talking about anything bigger.
Amana equipment we work on
- Central AC — an outdoor condensing unit paired with an indoor coil on top of a furnace or inside an air handler. Typical repairs: capacitors, contactors, condenser fan motors, refrigerant leaks and, less often, the compressor.
- Gas furnaces — ignition, flame sensing, pressure switches, inducer and blower motors, and the control board that ties them together.
- Heat pumps — the same outdoor parts as an AC plus a reversing valve and a defrost control, because the unit heats as well as cools.
- Package units — everything in one outdoor cabinet, connected to the house by supply and return ducts.
Warranty first, then the repair
Amana-brand heating and cooling equipment is made by Goodman under license, and both names are marketed heavily on their manufacturer warranties. Whether a part is covered depends on the model, the date it was installed, whether it was registered after installation and, for some coverage, whether you are the original owner. Before quoting, we read the model and serial number off the data plate and tell you which parts the warranty should cover.
Manufacturer coverage pays for parts, not labor, so you still get an itemized price for the work before it starts. We install factory certified parts, which carry the manufacturer’s warranty, and our own work carries a labor warranty. We are independent and not affiliated with Amana or Goodman, so the advice is about your system, not about selling one.
What usually goes wrong
| What you notice | Common cause | What it usually takes |
|---|---|---|
| Rooms drift above or below the setting | Thermostat settings, wiring or location | Testing the thermostat and its wiring before replacing it |
| Water around the furnace or indoor coil | Clogged condensate drain or a tripped float switch | Clearing the drain, checking the pan and switch |
| Weak airflow from every vent | Dirty filter, matted coil or blocked return | Filter, coil cleaning, return check |
| Outdoor unit hums, fan stays still | Weak capacitor or failed fan motor | Electrical tests, then the part that failed |
| Furnace blower loud or slow | Worn blower motor or dirty blower wheel | Motor test, wheel cleaning or replacement |
| AC runs, air never gets cold | Refrigerant leak, or a compressor that will not start | Leak search or start-circuit tests first |
Thermostat faults are the cheapest to fix and the easiest to misread. A changed schedule, a heat pump thermostat set up as a plain AC, or a loose wire at the base can all look like an equipment failure. Our page on a thermostat that is not working covers what you can check yourself.
Package units: one cabinet, every part
A package unit is an Amana air conditioner or heat pump with its indoor half moved outdoors: compressor, both coils and the blower share one cabinet, and on gas-electric models so does the burner. That makes every part easy to reach, but rain, leaves and sun work on the blower and controls too, not just the condenser. On a visit we check the cabinet seals, the drain, the duct connections where they enter the house, and the burner and flue on gas models.
Before you call
- Note what the thermostat shows and whether the indoor blower runs.
- Replace a grey, clogged filter; a dirty filter alone can freeze an AC coil or trip a furnace’s limit switch.
- Check the breaker and the outdoor disconnect.
- Photograph the data plate with the model and serial number; it speeds up the warranty check.
If the outdoor unit hums without spinning, turn the system off at the thermostat, because repeated restarts can overheat the compressor. A real person answers the phone 24/7, and same-day service is usually possible when you call before noon.
Local notes
Inland afternoons in Novato are when an Amana AC works hardest, and the long cool, damp season keeps furnaces and heat pumps busy in San Rafael for much of the year. A yearly maintenance visit, with coil cleaning, drain clearing and an electrical check, catches most of the problems in the table early. If an older Amana system needs a major part, we lay out the repair and the replacement side by side; AC installation explains what a new system involves.