Furnace Repair in Brainerd, MN
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Crow Wing County will get in touch.
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Nine months of Brainerd cold puts a lot of hours on your furnace
From September through May your furnace is the thing standing between your house and a night that averages 5°F. That is nine months of the burner lighting, running, and shutting off, over and over, and every one of those cycles is wear on the igniter and the flame sensor. When one of those parts finally gives out, you will notice the burner trying to light and failing, or the furnace running for a few seconds and quitting.
Crow Wing County has logged 33 winter storms and 139 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms like that knock out power. Across Minnesota, 13% of households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024. Most furnaces need electricity to run the blower and controls even if the gas is still flowing, so when the power goes out, so does your heat, right when you need it most.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 5°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 54%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 33 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $140 a year off heating for a typical Crow Wing County home.
Estimates for a typical Crow Wing 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.
There is no state license or registration behind the contractor who shows up to fix a furnace here. Minnesota does not test HVAC contractors or keep a state record of them, so nothing at the state level backs up the work before it starts.
A furnace repair that touches the gas line or the burner is where a bad connection becomes dangerous, and no state license stands behind that work in Minnesota. In Crow Wing County, 54.3 percent of homes heat with gas, so this is a repair many furnaces in the county will need at some point.
Source: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the power switch, since those cause more no-heat calls than the furnace itself. Check that the switch on the furnace or nearby wall, the one that looks like a light switch, hasn't been bumped off. Check the breaker too. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed, or a safety switch is holding the furnace off because of a clogged filter or a blocked vent. A furnace won't run if it senses a problem, so it may be doing exactly what it's built to do. A contractor can check the switch, the igniter and the safety controls and tell you which one is stopping it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit. Check the thermostat is set to heat and not just fan. If the fan setting is on and not auto, the blower will run between heating cycles and push out air that feels cold even though nothing is wrong. If the thermostat is set correctly and you're still getting cold air, the igniter or the gas valve may not be doing its job. With lows around 5°F through the winter here, a furnace that isn't actually heating needs attention fast, not after a day or two of waiting to see.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually comes down to the thermocouple, a 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 lit, and the pilot goes out. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot opening can cause the same thing. Older furnaces with a standing pilot are less common now, since most newer units light electronically, but if yours has one, a contractor can check the thermocouple and the pilot assembly and replace what's worn.