As Heating Aid Season Opens, Albuquerque HVAC Company Says High Bills Aren't Always About Home Heating Gas Prices
Nov 1, 2026
With HEAT New Mexico applications open again and winter shutoff protections starting November 15, Tru Mechanical explains how a struggling furnace can raise heating costs and why a high bill doesn’t always mean a new system.
Albuquerque, New Mexico Oct 31, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - Albuquerque's heating-assistance season is underway, and Tru Mechanical Heating & Cooling, a family-owned HVAC company based in Albuquerque, wants homeowners to understand one part of the heating-cost picture that assistance programs can't fix: how well the furnace turns fuel into heat.
New Mexico Gas Company paused applications for its HEAT New Mexico assistance fund in April and resumed processing them in October. The fund helps income-qualifying customers pay their natural gas heating bills and works alongside the state's Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP. According to New Mexico Gas Company, certain low-income customers who qualify for LIHEAP will not have their gas shut off for nonpayment between November 15 and March 15, as long as they are current on their bill or making payments on an installment agreement.
The city's annual HEATS ON event, a partnership between the Department of Senior Affairs and plumbers and pipefitters Local 412, has spent more than three decades starting furnaces and checking carbon monoxide safety for older adults and residents with disabilities each fall. Tru Mechanical, which is not part of that effort, points to it as a reminder of how much a working heating system matters to households on a tight budget.
"When the heating bill goes up, most people assume it's the gas price, or that the furnace is dying and they need a new one," said David Trujillo, co-owner of Tru Mechanical Heating & Cooling. "Sometimes that's true. But a lot of the time the furnace is fine and something smaller is making it work harder than it should. Assistance can help you pay the bill. It can't fix a system that's burning fuel and not getting the heat into your rooms."
A home's heating cost depends on three things: the price of gas, how much the furnace burns, and how much of that heat reaches the living space. Assistance programs help with the first. The other two are equipment and airflow problems, and Trujillo says they are often the cheapest to address.
The signs worth paying attention to are a furnace that runs noticeably longer than it did last winter, rooms that never warm up even when the system runs, and a bill that climbs without the weather getting colder.
The most common causes are not a failing furnace. A clogged air filter is the biggest one. It chokes the airflow, makes the system run longer, and can cause the furnace to overheat and shut itself off as a safety measure, then restart over and over. Closed or blocked supply vents and furniture sitting on return grilles do the same thing. A dirty flame sensor can make a furnace light, shut off, and try again repeatedly. Thermostats with dead batteries or old schedules can run the heat when no one is home. Loose duct connections in attics and crawlspaces can also send heated air into spaces nobody lives in.
"A filter is a few dollars. A flame sensor cleaning is a short service call. Those are worth ruling out before anyone talks about replacing equipment," Trujillo said. "We'd rather tell someone their furnace is fine than sell them one they don't need."
Tru Mechanical also urges households trying to cut costs not to use unsafe workarounds. Using a gas oven or stove to heat a home can produce carbon monoxide, and every home with gas appliances should have a working carbon monoxide alarm.
Households that need help paying heating bills can find information on LIHEAP and HEAT New Mexico through New Mexico Gas Company at nmgco.com or by calling 1-888-664-2726. Tru Mechanical does not administer these programs or determine eligibility.
Tru Mechanical Heating & Cooling has been family-owned and operated in Albuquerque since 2012, with more than 30 years of combined experience between David and Ray Trujillo. The company holds New Mexico Mechanical License #376701 and provides furnace installation and replacement, furnace repair, swamp cooler to refrigerated air conversions, and ductless mini-split service. It operates a full in-house sheet metal shop with plasma cutting and custom ductwork fabrication.
Albuquerque-area homeowners with questions about a furnace that is running longer than it should can contact Tru Mechanical Heating & Cooling at (505) 328-0743 or visit trumechanicalllc.com.
About Tru Mechanical Heating & Cooling
Tru Mechanical Heating & Cooling is a family-owned and operated HVAC company based in Albuquerque, serving Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Los Lunas, Santa Fe, and surrounding New Mexico communities since 2012. The company is a PNM Rebate Partner and operates a full in-house sheet metal shop for custom ductwork fabrication.
Contact:
Tru Mechanical Heating & Cooling
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 328-0743
https://trumechanicalllc.com
Media Contact
Tru Mechanical Heating & Cooling
tel:5053280743
7612 Desert Morning Rd SW, Albuquerque, NM 87121
Source :Tru Mechanical Heating & Cooling
This article was originally published by IssueWire. Read the original article here.
More News
ASX finishes the week higher as bank shares improve
The Australian sharemarket ended the week higher, after three of the big four banks gained on Friday.
Our OH&S officer is on a power trip. How do we make them stop?
I can see how frustrating, and sometimes offensive, this person’s behaviour is. But there might be a hidden reason for it.
Coles sacked a worker for grabbing a shoplifter. As a lawyer, here’s why it was the right call
When I worked at a suburban Woolworths I saw outrageous theft. The store managers would tackle thieves to the ground in the car park.
‘Just try me’: The text messages that sparked News24’s on-air clash
New text messages between One Nation’s James Ashby and News24’s Andrew Clennell reveal some of the power dynamics playing out in Canberra.
I jumped into a driverless car in the US. Here’s how they could hit Australia
Trips in a Waymo tend to cost more than Uber rides and are likely to put drivers out of jobs. So, what are the benefits, and do we want these cars on our roads?
Sydney’s classic Roseville Cinema will stay open and independent after $8m sale
The brothers behind Queensland-based picture theatre business Five Star Cinemas purchased the historic venue.
One of Melbourne’s most lucrative pokie pubs has a $60m plus price tag
The Bundoora Hotel’s 96 gaming machines swallowed $26.22 million from punters last financial year.
The oil market should brace for a forever stalemate in Iran
The oil market sees the future of the war in the Middle East as binary. Either Iran or the US reach a deal or they head into a worsening conflict. There is, however, a third path - and it’s not pretty.
ASX rises after Fed keeps rates on hold; Star shares jump, retailers slump
The Australian sharemarket had a strong session on the back of a positive lead from Wall Street after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold.
Consumers are mincemeat, but the RBA keeps raising the heat
Our most successful retailers can attest that the cost-of-living crisis is getting worse by the day – even before further rate rises hit consumers.
Rich surface samples open new silver frontier for Patriot in Peru
Surface sampling by Patriot Resources across a new target in Peru has hit up to 27.7g/t silver, just 2km from its existing 31.4 Moz silver-equivalent resource
Failed $44b Firmus float probed by corporate watchdog
ASIC has confirmed it is examining the aborted float of data centre start-up Firmus that would have been the largest ASX listing since Telstra in 1997.
YOUR NEWS, OUR NETWORK.
Do you have Great News you want to tell the world?
Be it updates about your business or your community, you can make sure that it’s heard by submitting your story to our network reaching hundreds of news sites across 6 verticals.