Furnace Repair in Rockland, ME
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Knox County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Rockland furnaces run nine months straight
Heat stays on here from September through May. On winter nights that average 16°F, the burner is cycling on and off for hours at a stretch, and every one of those starts puts wear on the igniter. More than half the homes in this area heat with fuel oil, so the burner and the nozzle that feeds it are doing that work night after night, all season.
Knox County has seen 45 winter storms and 18 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and across Maine, more than half of households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024. When the power drops, so does your furnace, oil or gas. If it does not start back up once the lights come on, the problem is worth a look before the next storm.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 16°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 45 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 is set to heat, the temperature is above room temperature, and the display is lit. If the thermostat looks fine, check the furnace's power switch and the breaker for it, since a tripped breaker will leave the whole system dead. Fuel oil furnaces also need oil in the tank, so if you're low or empty the burner won't fire. If power, fuel, and thermostat all check out and it still won't start, a contractor can test the safety switches and ignition components that could be holding it off.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often this means the blower is running but the burner hasn't ignited. The blower can kick on before the burner catches, so a few seconds of cool air at startup is normal, but a steady stream of cold air is not. It can also mean the flame sensor or igniter has failed, so the burner never lights at all even though the fan keeps moving air. With nights averaging 16°F here in winter, don't wait this out. Have it checked before the house loses more heat than it can recover.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit usually points to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is burning. 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 from a vent or a cracked window can also blow the pilot out on its own. If relighting it doesn't hold for more than a few seconds, the thermocouple is the most likely part to replace.