Furnace Repair in Joplin, MO
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Jasper County will get in touch.
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Seven months of heat wears a furnace down
Your furnace runs from October through April here, seven months of the year. On nights that average 27°F through December through February, it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch. Every cycle puts a load on the igniter and the parts that get the burner lit. That is what fails first. A furnace that won't light, or lights and then shuts back off.
Jasper County has had 9 winter storms and 124 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind like that can knock out power, and close to half of homes here heat with electricity. A furnace that depends on that power goes down when the power does. Missouri households went at least 24 hours without power in 19% of cases in 2024. When the power comes back on, a furnace that was already struggling may not restart on its own.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 27°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 9 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often it's the thermostat not calling for heat, a tripped breaker, or a safety switch stopping the furnace before it starts. Check that the thermostat is set below room temperature and has power, then check the breaker. Furnaces also have a switch that looks like a light switch near the unit, sometimes it gets bumped off. If power and settings check out and it still won't start, a contractor will need to check the igniter and the safety switches inside.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Air that feels cool at first is normal, a furnace pushes air across the heat exchanger before it warms up, so the first minute or two can feel cold. If it stays cold the whole time it runs, the igniter may not be lighting the burners, or the flame sensor is shutting the burners off right after they light. A dirty filter can also block airflow enough that the furnace overheats and shuts the burners down while the blower keeps running. A contractor can tell which of these it is.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple, the small sensor that proves the pilot is burning, has worn out or is dirty and can't hold the gas valve open. It can also happen if there's a draft near the pilot or the pilot orifice is partly clogged. A standing pilot burns on its own without electricity, so a power outage isn't the cause here. If relighting it doesn't hold, a contractor should look at the thermocouple and the gas valve rather than relighting it again.