Furnace Repair in Preston, ID
Furnaces here run from September through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Franklin County will get in touch.
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Ten months of heat a year wears a furnace down
In Preston, the furnace runs from September through June. That is ten months of the year it has to work, with only a short break in summer. On winter nights averaging 16°F, it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch to hold the house at temperature, and every one of those cycles puts stress on the igniter and the parts that get it burning.
Franklin County has seen 62 winter storms and 10 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Storms like that knock out power, and across Idaho, 11% of households lost power for a full day or more in 2024. A furnace that loses power mid-cycle and won't restart, or one that starts making a new noise after a hard freeze, is telling you something wore out under the strain.
- 10 months
- September through June, your furnace is on duty
- 16°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 62 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.
Idaho licenses HVAC contractors through the state HVAC Board. That license belongs to the contractor, not to each job, so the same license covers a furnace repair and any other HVAC work they take on.
For a furnace repair, the gas connection is the part that has to be right, and in Idaho the license is what stands behind the person making it. It is not a separate approval for this one job. It is what the board issued them to do this kind of work at all.
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 power to the furnace has been interrupted somewhere along the line. Check that the thermostat is set above room temperature and has working batteries if it uses them. The furnace's switch, which looks like a light switch, can also get bumped off. If the breaker has tripped or a fuse has blown, a contractor should look at it before you reset it, since a breaker that keeps tripping usually means something else is wrong.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- A furnace blows cold air for a few seconds when it first starts, while the burners warm up before the blower kicks in. If cold air keeps coming for longer than that, the burners may not be igniting even though the blower is running. A dirty filter can also cause this by making the furnace overheat and shut its burners off as a safety measure while the fan keeps moving air. Check the filter first, and if it's clean, a contractor will need to find out why the burners aren't lighting.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit usually points to a worn thermocouple, the small part that senses the flame and keeps gas flowing to it. When it wears out, it can't confirm the flame is burning and it shuts the gas off, even though the pilot lit fine a moment ago. Wind or drafts near the pilot can also blow it out repeatedly. If you relight it and it goes out again within a minute or two, the thermocouple is the likely cause and a contractor can replace it.