Furnace Repair in Emmett, ID
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Gem County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts real wear on your furnace
Emmett needs a working furnace from October through May, eight months of the year. On winter nights averaging 23°F, the furnace is running long stretches to keep up, and every cycle it goes through wears a little more on the igniter and the blower motor.
Gem County has seen 68 winter storms and 12 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind like that can knock out power, and statewide, 11% of Idaho households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024. Almost half of homes here heat with electricity, so when the power goes, the furnace goes with it. When it comes back on, that's often when a weak igniter or a strained blower motor finally gives out.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 23°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 68 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Idaho requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license sits with the contractor, not with the job itself. Idaho's HVAC Board tested that contractor before handing out the license, and the state keeps a record of who holds one. That record is what you're able to check before anyone touches your furnace.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the work. Furnace repair often means dealing with the gas line and the connections that carry it, and that's the part where a mistake turns dangerous. In Idaho, the license itself is the accountability for that work being done right, since the contractor answers to the board that certified them.
Sources: Idaho Legislature · Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way you think it is, or the furnace isn't getting power. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check the breaker for the furnace. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed, or a safety switch has shut the furnace down because of a clogged filter or a blocked vent. A furnace won't run through a fault like that on purpose, so it needs a contractor to find which one it is.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it's not warm, the furnace may be running its fan without a flame. That happens when the igniter can't light the gas or the flame sensor shuts the burner off right after it lights. It can also mean the thermostat fan setting is on rather than auto, which runs the blower even when the furnace isn't heating. A furnace that's eight months out of the year keeping a house warm here needs that flame working, so this isn't one to leave alone.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit usually points to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is burning. When it wears out or sits out of position, it reads no flame even when there is one, and it shuts the gas off. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot opening can do the same thing. Either way it's a part a contractor replaces or adjusts, not something to keep relighting through a cold winter here.