Furnace Repair in Columbia, MO
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Boone County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of work, in cold that doesn't let up
Columbia needs heat from October through April. That's seven months of your furnace cycling on through nights that average 24°F all winter. Every one of those starts puts a load on the igniter and the burner, and after enough winters one of them gives out. Almost half the homes here heat with gas, so it's usually the igniter that fails first, or a flame sensor too coated to do its job. Either way the burner won't stay lit, and the house starts losing ground.
Boone County has had 8 winter storms and 54 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and in 2024 a good share of Missouri households went at least a day without power. A furnace needs power to run even if it burns gas, so when the lines go down, so does your heat, right when it's coldest outside and you need it most.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 8 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $200 a year off heating for a typical Boone County home.
Estimates for a typical Boone County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Missouri fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when one part has failed and the heat exchanger is sound.
Replacement makes sense when the heat exchanger is cracked or the furnace keeps needing parts.
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most of the time it's the thermostat, the power, or the gas supply. Check that the thermostat is set below room temperature and has working batteries, and check the breaker for the furnace. If those are fine, the furnace has a switch that looks like a light switch, usually near the unit or on it, and it needs to be in the on position. Furnaces also have a safety switch on the door panel that shuts the whole unit off if the panel isn't seated right, so make sure the door is closed and latched.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- A furnace blows cold air for a few seconds when it first starts, while the heat exchanger warms up, and that's normal. If it's blowing cold air the whole time it runs, the burners may not be lighting even though the blower is, which can happen if the igniter is worn or the flame sensor is dirty. Cold air blowing with no heat at all can also mean the thermostat is calling for fan only rather than heat. A furnace technician can test the igniter and sensor and tell you which one is failing.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually points to the thermocouple, the small part that senses the pilot flame and keeps gas flowing to it. When it wears out or sits out of position, it reads the flame as out and shuts the gas off even though the pilot is lit. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can also put it out. If you've relit it more than once and it keeps going out, that part needs to be checked rather than relit again.