Furnace Repair in Washington, MO
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Franklin County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of heat, and the power going out on top of it
Franklin County needs the furnace running from October through April, seven months of the year. Winter nights average 24°F from December through February, so the burner is cycling on and off most of the night to hold the house steady. That kind of running wears on the parts that start the furnace up, and a bad igniter or a failing blower motor tends to show up in the coldest months, right when the house needs the heat most.
Most homes here heat with electricity, and the power does not always stay on. In Missouri, 19% of households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024, and this area has logged nine winter storms and 72 damaging wind events over the past ten years. When the power drops, so does the furnace, and getting it running again is its own repair.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 24°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?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it's set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, since a low battery or a wrong setting will stop the call for heat before it starts. Check your breaker panel next, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down. If the thermostat and power both check out, the furnace itself may have failed to light or the blower may not be starting, and that's a job for a contractor to diagnose.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the burners haven't lit but the blower is still running, so you feel room-temperature air instead of no air at all. A dirty flame sensor or a bad igniter can cause this. Check your air filter too, since a clogged one can choke airflow enough that the air feels cool even when the furnace is heating. If the filter looks fine and the air stays cold, the ignition system needs a contractor's look.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit usually means the thermocouple isn't sensing the flame, so the gas valve shuts off to protect you. A draft near the pilot or a buildup of soot on the thermocouple can also cause this. Try relighting it following the instructions on the furnace, and if it goes out again within a few minutes, the thermocouple likely needs replacing. This is a gas component, so have a contractor handle it rather than repeatedly relighting it yourself.