Furnace Repair in Farmington, ME
Furnaces here run from September through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Franklin County will get in touch.
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Ten months of heat, and nights that drop to 8 below freezing
In Farmington your furnace runs from September through June. That is ten months of cycling on and off, and on the nights that average 8°F all winter, it runs longer and more often to keep up. More than half the homes here heat with fuel oil, and an oil furnace under that kind of load depends on a clean nozzle and a working igniter to light on every cycle. When one of those wears out, the burner won't fire and the house goes cold fast at 8°F.
The power matters too. Franklin County sees winter storms most years, and across Maine more than half of households lost power for at least a day in 2024. A furnace with no power will not run no matter what shape it is in, and after the power comes back on, some won't restart on their own until the switch or breaker is reset.
- 10 months
- September through June, your furnace is on duty
- 8°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 97 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 the thermostat isn't calling for heat, or the system isn't getting power. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room level, then check the breaker and the switch that looks like a light switch near the furnace, since that shuts the whole unit off if it's flipped. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed, or a safety switch has tripped because of a clogged filter or a blocked vent. With 52% of homes here on fuel oil, an empty tank or a clogged nozzle is also worth ruling out before calling anyone.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it's not warm, the furnace may be running the blower without the burners lighting. That points to an ignition problem, a flame sensor that's dirty enough to shut the burners off right after they start, or a gas or oil supply issue. It can also mean the furnace is in a startup delay and warm air is only seconds away. If cold air keeps blowing the whole time the thermostat calls for heat, treat it as no heat at all and have it looked at, since with lows averaging 8°F here through the winter a furnace that won't actually heat needs attention fast.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit is almost always the thermocouple, the small sensor that sits in the flame and tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it wears out or sits at the wrong angle, the valve reads no flame and shuts the gas off even though the pilot was lit a moment ago. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. This isn't something to keep relighting and hoping fixes itself. A furnace that keeps losing its pilot needs a contractor to check the thermocouple and the flame itself, especially with 10 months of the year here depending on heat.