Furnace Repair in Mountain Home, ID
Furnaces here run from September through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Elmore County will get in touch.
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Ten months of heat wears a furnace down early
Mountain Home needs heat from September through June, ten months a year. That is ten months of the burner lighting, running, and shutting off again. On winter nights that average 21°F, it cycles on and off many times just to hold the house steady.
All that cycling wears on the parts that start the burner and keep it running. An igniter that has fired thousands of times gets weak and stops lighting the flame. You notice it as heat that used to come fast and steady starting to fall behind, or a furnace that will not stay lit at all.
- 10 months
- September through June, your furnace is on duty
- 21°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 53%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 84 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 Elmore County home.
Estimates for a typical Elmore 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 license is issued to the contractor, not tied to any single job. That means the state tested this contractor and keeps a record of them before they ever touch your furnace, and that record stands whether the job is a furnace repair, an install, or anything else in the trade.
For a furnace repair, the part that matters most is the gas connection, and that is exactly the kind of work the license is meant to stand behind here. In Elmore County, over half of homes heat with gas, so a contractor licensed to do this work is checked on the same thing that makes the job dangerous if it is done wrong.
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 it should, or the furnace isn't getting power. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature. A tripped breaker or a switch near the furnace left in the off position will also stop it cold, and so will a closed gas valve. With winter lows here averaging 21°F, it's worth ruling out the simple causes fast before you lose a night to it. If those check out and it still won't fire, a contractor can test the ignition system and safety switches to find the actual fault.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If the blower is running but the air isn't warm, the furnace may be stuck in fan mode, or it could be failing to ignite while the fan keeps pushing room air through. A dirty filter can also choke airflow enough to trip a safety limit switch, which shuts off the burner but leaves the fan running. Try setting the thermostat fan to auto instead of on, and check the filter. If the air stays cold with the thermostat calling for heat, the ignition system likely needs a contractor to look at it.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit usually points to a weak or dirty thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is burning. If it can't sense the flame, the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure. Drafts near the pilot or a partly clogged pilot orifice can cause the same thing. A furnace on a standing pilot burns gas continuously to keep it lit, so this is worth fixing before cold weather sets in for good. A contractor can clean or replace the thermocouple and check the gas valve behind it.