Furnace Repair in Augusta, ME
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Kennebec County will get in touch.
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Nine months of heat, and nights near 13 below zero
Your furnace works from September through May here. That is nine months of the year it has to come on, most of it against nights that average 13°F. A furnace built to run that hard, that often, wears down the parts that start it and keep it burning.
Most Kennebec County homes heat with fuel oil, and an oil furnace depends on the igniter and the burner staying clean and steady through hundreds of cycles a winter. When one of those gives out, you will notice it as a furnace that will not start, or one that starts and then quits. More than half of Maine households lost power for a full day or more last year, and a furnace with no power will not run no matter what shape it is in. Between the cold and the outages, this is a county where a furnace gets tested most of the year.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 13°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 40 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. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check the batteries if it uses them. If that's fine, look at the furnace switch, the one that looks like a light switch near the unit, and make sure it's on. A tripped breaker or a furnace that won't fire can also mean a bad igniter or a safety switch has shut it down, and that needs a contractor to look at it. With winter lows here averaging 13°F, a furnace that won't start is worth getting checked the same day.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit. That can point to a dirty flame sensor, a clogged filter, or an ignition problem. It can also just be the furnace starting a cycle, since the blower sometimes runs a few seconds before warm air reaches the vents. If cold air keeps blowing during the cycle rather than at the start, the furnace isn't heating the air at all and needs a contractor to find out why.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually comes down to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it wears out or sits out of position, the gas valve shuts off the pilot as a safety measure. A draft blowing out the flame or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. Relighting it yourself may work for a night, but if it keeps going out, the part needs to be checked and likely replaced by a contractor, especially with heat needed here most of the year.