Furnace Repair in Rumford, ME
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Oxford County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Rumford asks a lot of a furnace
Your furnace runs nine months a year here, September through May. On winter nights that average 10 degrees, the burner has to stay on longer and cycle more to hold the house at temperature. That kind of run time wears on the igniter and the flame sensor faster than it would somewhere milder.
Most homes in Rumford heat with fuel oil, so that wear falls on the burner and its nozzle first. The area has also logged 100 winter storms and 77 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and in 2024 more than half of Maine households lost power for at least 24 hours. A furnace with no power to it will not light, no matter how sound the rest of it is.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 10°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 100 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 is calling for heat but something in the ignition chain is stopping it. Check that the thermostat has power and is set below room temperature, and check the furnace switch and breaker. If those are fine, the igniter, the flame sensor, or a safety switch could be holding the furnace off, and those need a contractor to test them. With winter lows here averaging around 10°F, it is worth getting this looked at quickly rather than waiting.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- This usually means the blower is running but the burners have not lit, or they lit and then shut off. A dirty flame sensor is a common cause, since it can no longer detect the flame and shuts the gas off as a safety measure. A clogged filter can also cause the furnace to overheat and cut the burners while the fan keeps running. If the air stays cold, a contractor needs to find out why the burners aren't firing.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit almost always points to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. If it's worn out or out of position, it reads no flame even when one is present and shuts the gas off. A draft blowing across the pilot can also put it out. Either way, a contractor needs to inspect and likely replace the part, since relighting it yourself will only work until it goes out again.