Furnace Repair in Boise City, ID
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Ada County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of work, on cold nights, with the power going out
Your furnace runs from October through May here, eight months of the year. On nights that average 25°F, it cycles on and off again and again to hold the house steady. Every start puts a load on the igniter, and igniters are usually the first thing to fail after seasons of that work.
Most furnaces in Ada County run on gas, but gas furnaces still need electricity to run the blower and the control board. Idaho households saw real outages last year, and a winter storm that knocks the power out will take your furnace with it even if the gas is still flowing. When it comes back on, some furnaces restart on their own and some need a hand. If yours has been quiet, cycling short, or not lighting at all, that is the kind of wear this weather causes.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 25°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 69%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 27 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $70 a year off heating for a typical Ada County home.
Estimates for a typical Ada County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Idaho fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when one part has failed and the heat exchanger is sound.
Replacement makes sense when the heat exchanger is cracked or the furnace keeps needing parts.
Idaho requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The HVAC Board tests the contractor before issuing that license, and the license stays tied to them, not to any one job. So the same contractor who fixes your neighbor's furnace next month carries the same license they had for yours. Idaho keeps that record at the board level, which means the credential is checked once and applies to every job that contractor takes on.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the person in your house. Gas furnaces are common here, with close to seven in ten Ada County homes heating with gas, and a gas connection is the part of the repair where a mistake actually matters. The state's licensing is what puts a tested contractor on that job rather than someone working without one.
Sources: Idaho Legislature · Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the setting is above room temperature, and check the batteries if it uses them. If the thermostat looks right, check the furnace switch, the one that looks like a light switch near the unit, and make sure the breaker hasn't tripped. A furnace that still won't start after that likely has a problem with the igniter, the flame sensor, or the pressure switch, and those need a contractor to diagnose.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit. Check your air filter first, a clogged one can choke off airflow enough to trip a safety switch and shut the burners down while the fan keeps going. If the filter is clean, the igniter or flame sensor may be failing, or the gas valve isn't opening. With lows around 25°F here in the winter, it's worth getting this looked at quickly rather than living with cold air for long.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple has worn out. That's the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to stay open. When it fails, the valve shuts the gas off as soon as you let go of the pilot control, even though the flame was burning fine. A draft blowing out the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same symptom, so a contractor will check which one it is before replacing anything.