Homes
Houses across Federal Way, Auburn and Kent
Gas furnaces, heat pumps, ductless systems and air conditioning — including cooling added to houses that never had it, and filtration upgrades before smoke season.
Federal Way · South King County
Warm in winter, cool in summer, clean air in smoke season.
Union Harbor installs, repairs and maintains heat pumps, furnaces, air conditioning and filtration for homes and businesses from Federal Way to Kent and Auburn — and when the summer sky turns orange, we'll tell you plainly what your system can and can't do about it.
Homes and businesses, equally
Two kinds of customer. Same care.
Businesses
Offices, clinics, retail and restaurants
Rooftop units and split systems along Pacific Highway, the Commons area and Kent's business parks — with filtration and outside-air settings reviewed for smoke days.
Smoke-day air
The sky's gone orange. What should you do?
It depends on the system you have. Start at the top.
Smoke outside? Check the air quality on AirNow or with Puget Sound Clean Air.
The questionIs the building heated or cooled through ducts — a furnace, air handler or rooftop unit?
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Yes — a home
Use the filter, and the fan
- Fit the best filter the system can take — ideally MERV 13.
- Set the fan to On, not Auto, while it's smoky.
- Keep windows and doors shut.
- Not sure your system can take a MERV 13? Ask us — too dense a filter can starve it of air.
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Yes — a business
Filters, and the outside air
- Upgrade filters where the units allow, and check the racks seal.
- Reduce outside air where it's safe to — economizers especially.
- Don't cut ventilation below what the space needs without advice.
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No ducts
Clean the air room by room
- Baseboards, wall heaters or ductless heat pumps don't filter much.
- Run a portable HEPA cleaner sized for the room — start with the bedroom.
- A ductless heat pump will keep you cool; it won't clean the air.
Whatever you haveReplace the filter after a long smoke event — it will have done a lot of work.
General guidance for healthy adults' homes and ordinary commercial spaces, not medical advice. If someone has heart or lung conditions, follow their doctor's advice and public-health guidance. The full smoke-day page.
All year
Three seasons of work.
Heating
Gas furnaces and heat pumps: repair, replacement and autumn service.
Cooling
Heat pumps and air conditioning, including houses adding cooling for the first time.
Air
Filtration upgrades, ventilation, and smoke-season settings for homes and buildings.
Plain about air quality
What we won't claim.
Air-cleaning products attract big promises. Here's what you won't hear from us.
- That a filter or device makes indoor air "pure" or removes "99.9%" of anything in your home.
- That you need an expensive add-on before we've looked at what your system can already do.
- That any product replaces public-health advice on smoke days.
- That a thicker filter is always better — it has to suit the system.
Where we work
Federal Way and South King County.
The office is on SW 336th Street, near Twin Lakes.
- Federal Way
- Auburn
- Kent
- Des Moines
- Northeast Tacoma
- Milton
- Fife
- Burien
- SeaTac
- Normandy Park
Office
2176 SW 336th St, Federal Way, WA 98023
Mon–Fri 8am–5pm · Sat 9am–1pm
(253) 369-3826
Questions
Asked in smoke season — and the rest of the year.
What filter should I use when there is wildfire smoke?
The highest-rated filter your system can handle, ideally MERV 13. Not every system can take one: a filter too dense for the system can restrict airflow. If you are not sure, ask us to check before smoke season.
Should I run my system's fan all the time when it is smoky?
Setting the fan to On rather than Auto moves air through the filter more often, which helps when the filter is a good one. It uses more electricity, and it only helps if windows and doors are kept shut.
We have baseboard heat and no ducts. What can we do about smoke?
A portable HEPA air cleaner sized for the room, running in the room where people sleep, is the usual answer. Ductless heat pumps recirculate indoor air and have only light filters, so they cool but do not clean the air much.
What does "Finishes" in your name mean?
It is part of the business name, not a second trade. Union Harbor is a heating, cooling and indoor-air contractor and does not do painting, coatings or finishing work.
Do you work on businesses as well as homes?
Yes, equally. Offices, clinics, retail and restaurants across Federal Way and South King County, including rooftop units, filtration and ventilation.
Ready before smoke season?
Homes and businesses across South King County — one number.