Furnace Repair in Boone, IA
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Boone County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat, and nights near 14 degrees
Your furnace works from October through May here, eight months of the year. On winter nights that average 14°F, it has to run long and hard just to hold the house steady, and that kind of load wears on the igniter and the blower motor over a season, not just one cold snap.
Boone County has seen 25 winter storms and 37 damaging wind events over the last ten years. Wind like that can snuff a pilot or push cold air back through the flue, and when the power goes out, the furnace stops with it. Across Iowa, 15% of households lost power for a full day or more in 2024. If yours does, the furnace will not come back on its own until the power does.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 14°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 57%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 25 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $110 a year off heating for a typical Boone County home.
Estimates for a typical Boone County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Iowa 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.
Iowa requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Iowa tested this contractor and keeps a record of them at the Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job, so it stays with them from one furnace repair to the next rather than being issued fresh each time.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the work. Gas is the part that has to be right, since a loose or bad connection at the furnace is what makes this job dangerous. In Boone County, 57.3% of homes heat with gas, so this is the ordinary job the state built this license for.
Sources: Iowa Legislature · Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat, a safety switch has tripped, or power isn't reaching the unit. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature. Check the breaker and the furnace's own power switch, which is usually a light switch near the unit. If those look fine, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may have failed, and that needs a contractor to check.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- The furnace may be running the blower without the burners lit, or the burners may have failed to ignite. A furnace often blows a few seconds of cool air at the start of a cycle before the heat exchanger warms up, which is normal. If the air stays cold the whole cycle, the igniter or flame sensor likely isn't lighting the burners, and a contractor will need to check it.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit usually means the thermocouple has worn out, or there's a draft or buildup keeping the flame from sensing correctly. The thermocouple is a small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it fails or sits dirty, the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure, even with the pilot lit. This is a common part to replace and worth having a contractor look at, especially with winter lows here averaging 14°F.