Furnace Repair in Blaine, MN
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Anoka County will get in touch.
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Nine months of heat, and nights near zero
Blaine needs the furnace running from September through May. That is nine months of the year, and on winter nights that average 9°F, the burner is not cycling lightly. It is holding a house against real cold, night after night, for most of the year.
That kind of demand wears on the parts that start the burner and move the heat. An igniter that struggles to light it, or a blower that runs longer than it should, tends to show up on the coldest nights, when the furnace is working hardest. Most homes here heat with gas, so when the furnace goes down, there is nothing else in the house built to replace it.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 9°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 83%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 28 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $120 a year off heating for a typical Anoka County home.
Estimates for a typical Anoka County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Minnesota 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.
Minnesota has no state license for HVAC contractors.
Minnesota keeps no state list of HVAC contractors and tests no one before they touch a furnace. There is no license to check. There is no registration filed with the state either. Whatever confidence you have going in comes from the contractor directly, not from a state record behind them.
A furnace repair still involves gas, and the connection where gas meets flame is the part that has to be right. In Anoka County, 83.3% of homes heat with gas, so this is the ordinary repair, not a rare one. Minnesota has nothing in place at the state level to check that connection on this job.
Source: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check the batteries if it has them. If the thermostat looks right, check the furnace switch, the one that looks like a light switch near the unit, and make sure it's on. A tripped breaker or a filter packed so tight air can't move through it will also shut a furnace down. If none of that explains it, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may have failed, and that calls for a contractor to test it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the furnace is running the blower without the burners lit. Check your filter first. A filter clogged enough can cause the furnace to shut the burners off while the fan keeps moving air, so what you feel is room air, not heat. If the filter is clean and you're still getting cold air, the igniter or flame sensor may be failing partway through the cycle. That's a repair for a contractor, not something to keep running through the winter here.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit is usually the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is burning. When it wears out or sits out of position, the valve shuts the gas off even though the pilot lit fine a moment before. Wind or a draft down the vent can also blow a pilot out. If you've relit it more than once and it keeps going out, have a contractor check the thermocouple and the venting rather than keep relighting it yourself.