Furnace Repair in Waldoboro, ME
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lincoln County will get in touch.
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It takes about a minute.
Nine months of heat puts real hours on your furnace
From September through May your furnace is the thing standing between your house and a 16°F night. That is nine months of runtime, and on the coldest nights the burner is cycling on and off for hours at a stretch. More than half the homes in this area heat with fuel oil, so the oil burner, the nozzle, and the ignition system are doing that work night after night.
Lincoln County has seen 43 winter storms and 19 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and across Maine more than half of households lost power for at least a day in 2024. When the power drops mid storm, an oil furnace stops running the moment it does, and it will not restart on its own once power is back if the ignition system does not recognize a call for heat correctly. You notice it as a house that will not warm up even though nothing looks obviously broken.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 16°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 43 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most of the time it comes down to the thermostat, the power supply, or the furnace not getting a signal to start. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check the breaker and any power switch near the furnace itself. If those are fine, the igniter or a safety switch may be keeping it from starting, and that's a job for a contractor to test. With winter lows here averaging 16°F, it's worth getting someone out quickly rather than waiting it out.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If the blower is running but the air feels cold, the furnace likely isn't lighting or the flame is going out right after it starts. This can happen with a dirty flame sensor, a clogged filter, or a problem with the igniter. It can also just be the first blast of air before the furnace warms up, which is normal for a few seconds. If cold air keeps coming, shut the system off and have a contractor look at it rather than letting it run.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that keeps going out is usually a sign of a weak or dirty thermocouple, the part that senses the flame and keeps the gas valve open. A draft near the pilot or a partially closed gas valve can also cause it. Cleaning rarely fixes this for good, since the thermocouple itself wears out over time. A contractor can test it and replace it, which is a simple repair once diagnosed.