Heating Repair
Repair or replace a 15-year-old furnace in Miami?
Asked by Evelyn Murphyin Miami, Florida· 3/29/2026· 676 views
I'm in Miami, Florida and dealing with a 15-year-old furnace in our small commercial unit. Over the past week, it has been short cycling every few minutes and we're now noticing the upstairs stays noticeably worse than the main floor.
One contractor quoted $347 for repair, while another jumped straight to a $15,748 replacement because of the age. The weather here has been dealing us cold morning startup, so I do not want to wait too long, but I also do not want to approve the wrong scope.
If you were comparing bids on this, what would you want checked first? I especially want to know how much weight you would give to static pressure, filter restriction, flame sensor condition, and thermostat calibration.
heatingtroubleshootingrepair
3 Answers
33
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Before signing anything, I would ask the technician to show the readings and explain which number actually supports the recommendation. For a furnace that is short cycling every few minutes, the first things I would ask for are static pressure, filter restriction, flame sensor condition, and thermostat calibration. If the contractor is recommending bigger work, ask them to explain which measurement supports that recommendation and whether they ruled out airflow or controls first. In Miami, Florida, pricing can move around, but the diagnostic process should still be clear.
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From a contractor side, I would not approve a major repair or replacement without test results that line up with the symptoms. For a furnace that is short cycling every few minutes, the first things I would ask for are static pressure, filter restriction, flame sensor condition, and thermostat calibration. If the contractor is recommending bigger work, ask them to explain which measurement supports that recommendation and whether they ruled out airflow or controls first. In Miami, Florida, pricing can move around, but the diagnostic process should still be clear.
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If you can, ask whether they checked airflow before recommending equipment. We nearly replaced a system when the bigger issue was elsewhere. We had a related issue with our furnace in Miami. Once we forced every quote into the same format, the decision got much easier because the weak recommendations stood out immediately.
Owen Foster·3/29/2026