Furnace Repair in Fergus Falls, MN
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Otter Tail County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Nine months of heat puts real wear on a furnace
In Fergus Falls, your furnace runs from September through May. On nights that average 4°F in December through February, it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch, and every start puts a load on the igniter and the burner. That kind of wear catches up with a furnace that's already been running most of the year.
The area has seen 88 winter storms and 157 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms like that knock out power. Statewide, 13% of households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024. A furnace needs electricity to run its blower and controls, so when the power goes, so does your heat, right when you need it most.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 4°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 88 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 Otter Tail County home.
Estimates for a typical Otter Tail 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 does not put HVAC contractors through any state licensing or registration process. There is no state exam behind the person coming to look at your furnace, and no state record of them to check. That is true everywhere in the state, not just in Otter Tail County.
For a furnace repair, that means the license itself is not what stands between you and a bad job, because there isn't one. Gas repair is the part that matters most here, since a bad connection is the dangerous part of the work. In Otter Tail County, close to a third of homes heat with gas, so this is not a small piece of the county's furnace work.
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 the furnace isn't getting power. Check that the thermostat is set below room temperature and has fresh batteries if it uses them. Next check the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit, and the breaker it runs on. If those are fine, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may have failed, and that calls for a contractor to open it up and test it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Check the thermostat fan setting first. If it's set to "on" instead of "auto", the blower runs all the time, even between heat cycles, and that air feels cold. If it's already on auto, the furnace may be failing to ignite the gas even though the blower still runs, which leaves you with room-temperature air moving through the vents. A dirty filter can also choke off airflow enough to trip a safety limit and shut the burners off while the fan keeps going. Either way, a contractor needs to check the ignition and the filter to find which one it is.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit almost always points to the thermocouple, the small sensor that sits in the flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to stay open. When it wears out or sits out of position, the valve shuts the gas off within a minute of lighting, even though the flame looked fine. A draft blowing across the pilot can cause the same thing, so check that any nearby vents or doors aren't pushing air at it. If it keeps going out after that, the thermocouple needs to be adjusted or replaced, and that's a job for a contractor since it involves the gas valve.