Furnace Repair in Fort Madison, IA
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lee County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts real wear on a Fort Madison furnace
Your furnace runs from October through May here, eight months a year. On winter nights that average 20°F from December through February, it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch to hold the house at temperature. Every one of those cycles depends on the igniter lighting the burner correctly, and that part wears with each attempt until one day it doesn't fire.
Lee County has seen 13 winter storms and 79 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms like that knock out power. Across Iowa, 15% of households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024. Most furnaces restart on their own once power returns, but one with a weak igniter or a control board already under strain may not come back the way it should, and that means a cold house until someone looks at it.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 20°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 56%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 13 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $100 a year off heating for a typical Lee County home.
Estimates for a typical Lee 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.
The Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board issues that license after testing the contractor, and it keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same credential that covers a furnace repair in Lee County covers the next one somewhere else.
For a furnace repair, that matters most at the gas connection, where a poor seal or a bad joint is the dangerous part of the work. A licensed contractor is the one accountable for getting that right, and the license itself is the record that they were tested to do it. In Lee County, 55.6% of homes heat with gas, so this is the rule standing behind a good share of the furnace work done here.
Sources: Iowa Legislature · Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- The most common reason is the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way it should, but a few other things can stop the furnace before it starts. Check that the thermostat is set below room temperature and has power. After that, check the switch on the furnace itself and the breaker at your panel, since either one being off will stop it cold. If those are fine, the furnace may be catching a safety switch, like one on the door panel or the flame sensor, and a contractor will need to find which one.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this means the blower is running before the burners have lit, or the burners aren't lighting at all. A furnace blows a few seconds of cool air at the very start of a cycle while it warms up, so that alone isn't a problem. If cold air keeps coming the whole time it runs, the igniter or flame sensor likely isn't doing its job, and the furnace needs a contractor to look at it. With lows around 20°F through Fort Madison winters, this isn't something to leave for long.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit is usually a sign the thermocouple has worn out or isn't sitting close enough to the flame to sense it. The thermocouple's job is to prove the pilot is burning. When it fails, it shuts the gas valve even though the flame is fine. A draft blowing across the pilot can also blow it out. If relighting it doesn't hold, the part needs replacing, which is a job for a licensed contractor since it involves the gas line.