Furnace Repair in Faribault, MN
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Rice County will get in touch.
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Nine months of heat, and nights near 10 below
Faribault needs a working furnace from September through May, nine months of the year. On a winter night averaging 10°F, the burner is lighting and shutting off for hours to keep up.
All that cycling wears on the parts that start the furnace. The igniter and the flame sensor take the hit first, since they fire every cycle. When one of them fails, the furnace either will not light at all or shuts itself off a few seconds after it does. Rice County has seen 34 winter storms and 36 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and in 2024, 13% of Minnesota households lost power for at least a day. A furnace that will not restart on its own once the power comes back is worth checking before the next storm.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 10°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 65%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 34 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 Rice County home.
Estimates for a typical Rice 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 record of HVAC contractors at all. There is no license and no registration, nothing on file before someone comes into your home to work on your furnace. Whatever protection you have comes from somewhere other than the state.
A furnace repair means a gas connection, and that connection is the part that has to be right. In Rice County, 65.2% of homes heat with gas, so that connection is common work here. Minnesota has no state check on who does it and no registration to record who did.
Source: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way it should, or a safety switch has shut the furnace down. Check that the thermostat is set below room temperature and has power. If the furnace still won't respond, the filter may be clogged enough to trip a limit switch, or the igniter has failed. With nine months of heating season here, a furnace that won't start needs a contractor out quickly rather than waiting it out.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- The blower is likely running before the burners have lit or after they've shut off, which is normal for a few minutes at the start and end of a cycle. If cold air keeps blowing the whole time, the igniter or flame sensor may be failing, so the burners never light at all. A clogged filter can also starve the burners of air and cause this. Either way a contractor needs to look at the ignition system directly.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit almost always points to a worn thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is present. When it wears out, it reads no flame even when one is lit and shuts the gas off. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same problem. Many newer furnaces don't use a standing pilot at all, so if yours does, it's worth having a contractor check the thermocouple before the cold sets in for the winter.