Furnace Repair in Lewiston, ID
Furnaces here run from September through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Nez Perce County will get in touch.
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Ten months of heat a year wears a furnace down
Lewiston needs furnace heat from September through June. That is ten months of the burner lighting and shutting off, over and over, to keep up with winter nights that average 26°F. Every one of those cycles puts wear on the igniter and the parts that control the flame.
More than half the homes here heat with gas, so when the furnace stops, there is no backup. Nez Perce County has also seen 29 winter storms and 37 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms like that knock out power. In Idaho, 11% of households lost power for a day or longer in 2024. A furnace that relies on electricity to run its blower and controls goes down with the power, right in the middle of the cold it was supposed to handle.
- 10 months
- September through June, your furnace is on duty
- 26°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 52%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 29 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $80 a year off heating for a typical Nez Perce County home.
Estimates for a typical Nez Perce 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.
Idaho tests contractors before granting this license, and the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Board keeps that record on file. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so what you're checking is the business you're hiring, not paperwork tied to your furnace specifically.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the person working on your gas line and burner. A loose or leaking gas connection is the dangerous part of this job, and in Idaho the licensed contractor is the one accountable for getting it right. Just over half the homes in Nez Perce County heat with gas, which makes this the rule most furnace repairs here fall under.
Sources: Idaho Legislature · Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. If the display is blank or won't respond, check the batteries first, since that stops a furnace cold before you even get to the furnace itself. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker and the furnace's own power switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit and gets bumped off more often than people expect. Furnaces here run for most of the year, September through June, so a furnace that won't start in the middle of that stretch is worth calling in a contractor to check rather than waiting it out.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it is not warm, the furnace may be running the blower without the burners lighting. That points to an ignition problem, a dirty flame sensor, or the gas supply being interrupted. It could also mean the thermostat is set to fan on instead of auto, which just circulates room air with the burners off. With winter nights here averaging 26°F, a furnace stuck on cold air for more than a short spell needs a contractor to look at the burner and ignition side.
- 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 actually burning. If it's worn out or out of position, it shuts the gas off even though the flame is right there. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. A furnace that keeps a pilot flame does not depend on electricity to run that flame, but if it won't stay lit at all, that part needs replacing rather than relighting again and again.