Furnace Repair in Idaho Falls, ID
Furnaces here run from September through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Bonneville County will get in touch.
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Ten months of heat wears a furnace down early
Your furnace works ten months a year here, from September through June. On winter nights averaging 15°F, it runs long stretches just to hold the house steady, and the burner cycles on and off many times a day. Each start puts a little more wear on the igniter, and eventually one cold morning it just won't light.
Bonneville County has seen 157 winter storms and 118 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind like that can knock out power, and across Idaho, 11% of households lost power for a full day or more in 2024. When the power drops, the furnace stops too, even if the gas is still on.
- 10 months
- September through June, your furnace is on duty
- 15°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 56%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 157 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $100 a year off heating for a typical Bonneville County home.
Estimates for a typical Bonneville 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 issues the license to the contractor, not to the job. That means the person or company coming to your house has been tested and is on record with the state. It does not mean the state signs off on this particular repair once it is done.
For a furnace repair, the gas connection is the part that matters most, since a bad one is what makes the job dangerous. Idaho's licensing covers who is allowed to do that work, but it does not add a separate state inspection of the repair itself. In Bonneville County, 56% of homes heat with gas.
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 setpoint is above room temperature, and swap the batteries if it's gone blank. If the thermostat looks fine, check the furnace switch, usually mounted on or near the unit itself, and the breaker it runs on. Many furnaces also won't fire if the filter is badly clogged or if a safety switch on the door isn't fully engaged. If none of that gets it going, the igniter, flame sensor, or control board may have failed, and that calls for a contractor to test it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit. Check that the thermostat fan setting is on auto, not on. If it's set to on, the blower runs constantly and pushes cold air between heating cycles, which feels like a problem but isn't one. If the fan is on auto and you're still getting cold air, the igniter or flame sensor likely needs attention, and a dirty flame sensor is one of the more common causes. A contractor can test both in a single visit.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually comes down to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it wears out or sits out of position, it shuts the gas off even though the flame is still there. A draft blowing across the pilot can also snuff it out repeatedly. If you've relit it more than once and it keeps going out, don't keep relighting it. Have a contractor check the thermocouple and the gas valve, since a faulty valve can also be the cause.