HVAC Repair in Skowhegan, ME
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Ten months of heating, and nights near zero
In Skowhegan the furnace runs from September through June. Winter nights average 7°F from December through February, and on those nights the burner cycles on and off for hours to keep up. Every start puts wear on the igniter and the heat exchanger, and after enough winters one of them gives out, usually right when you need the heat most.
Most homes here burn fuel oil, which means the oil line, the filter, and the nozzle all matter as much as the burner itself. A clogged nozzle or a line with water in it will keep the furnace from lighting at all. Add in the storms, 137 winter storms and 83 damaging wind events here over the last ten years, and the power behind your system is never a sure thing either. More than half of Maine households lost power for a full day at some point in 2024, and a furnace with no electricity will not run no matter how sound its parts are.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 7°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 74°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- Why is my heat not working?
- Start with the thermostat and the power to the furnace. If the display is dark, check the breaker and any switch that looks like a light switch near the unit, since that shuts the furnace off for service and sometimes gets left off by mistake. If power is fine and it still won't fire, the igniter is a common failure point, and on oil furnaces a clogged nozzle or dirty filter can stop the burner from lighting. With most homes here heating from September through June and winter nights averaging 7°F, a furnace that won't hold heat needs a contractor out quickly rather than waiting to see if it resolves on its own.
- Why is my system running but not cooling the house?
- A system that runs but doesn't cool is almost always short on airflow or short on refrigerant. Check the filter first, since a clogged one starves the coil of air and lets it ice over, which then blocks cooling entirely even though the blower keeps running. If the filter is clean and the vents are open, low refrigerant from a leak is the next likely cause, and that needs a contractor with gauges to find and fix. Summer afternoons here only average 74°F, so a struggling system usually points to one of these problems rather than the outdoor heat overwhelming it.
- What can I check before calling for HVAC repair?
- Check the thermostat settings, the filter, and the power first. Make sure the thermostat is set to heat or cool as needed and has working batteries if it uses them, and swap in a fresh filter if the current one looks gray or clogged. Check the breaker panel and any service switch near the furnace or outdoor unit, since a tripped breaker or a switch bumped off will stop the system cold. With 54% of Maine households losing power for at least 24 hours at some point in 2024, and this area seeing 137 winter storms and 83 damaging wind events over the last ten years, a system that won't start after an outage is often just waiting on a breaker reset or the furnace's switch being flipped back on.