Furnace Repair in Skowhegan, ME
Furnaces here run from September through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Somerset County will get in touch.
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It takes about a minute.
Ten months of heat, nights near zero
A furnace in Skowhegan runs from September through June, ten months of the year. On winter nights that average 7°F, it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch to hold the house at temperature. Most homes here heat with fuel oil, and the burner and igniter take the wear from all that cycling.
Somerset County has seen 137 winter storms and 83 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Across Maine, 54% of households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024. A furnace that loses power in the middle of a cold night has to start cold and work to catch the house back up once power returns.
- 10 months
- September through June, your furnace is on duty
- 7°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 137 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 is set to heat and set a few degrees above room temperature, and check that it has power or fresh batteries. If the thermostat looks fine, check the furnace switch, the one that looks like a light switch near the unit, and the breaker for the furnace. Many furnaces also stop if the air filter is clogged or if the flame sensor is dirty, and neither of those is something to force. If power and airflow both check out and it still won't start, a contractor will need to look at the igniter or the control board.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit, so air is moving past a furnace that isn't heating it. A dirty flame sensor is a common cause, since it shuts the gas off as a safety measure even when everything else looks normal. It can also mean the pilot light or igniter has failed. Check the thermostat fan setting too. If it's set to "on" instead of "auto", the blower runs constantly and will blow cool air between heating cycles, which can feel like the furnace isn't working when it actually is.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually points to the thermocouple, the small safety part that senses whether the pilot flame is actually burning. When it wears out or sits out of position, it shuts the gas valve even though the pilot lit for a second. A draft blowing across the pilot can also blow it out, so check if there's an open window or vent nearby. If you relight it and it goes out again within a minute, that's the thermocouple, and it's not something to keep relighting on your own. A contractor can replace it.