Furnace Repair in Le Mars, IA
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Plymouth County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat, nights near 13 below zero
Furnaces in Le Mars run from October through May. That is eight months of the year the burner is cycling on and off to keep up, and on the nights that average 13 degrees, it is working hardest. Every start puts wear on the igniter and the flame sensor, and over enough winters those are the parts that fail first, usually leaving the house cold instead of just running less.
Plymouth County sees real winter storms, 26 of them over the last ten years, along with 51 damaging wind events. Storms like that knock out power, and in Iowa last year 15 percent of households lost power for 24 hours or more. Most furnaces need electricity to run the blower and controls even if they burn gas, so when the power goes out, so does the heat. When it comes back on, the furnace should start up on its own.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 13°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 26 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 Plymouth County home.
Estimates for a typical Plymouth 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's Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board tests contractors before it licenses them, and the license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job. So the license on file covers the person or company doing the work, and it stays valid across every repair they take on, not just this one.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the person in your house. Gas furnaces depend on a tight connection at every joint, since that is where a leak would start, and the same license that lets a contractor take on your furnace covers that part of the work too. In Plymouth County, close to half of homes heat with gas, so this is the standard the state holds contractors to for a repair like yours.
Sources: Iowa Legislature · Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. If the display is blank or the setting will not hold, the batteries or the wiring behind it may be the problem, not the furnace itself. Next check the power switch on or near the furnace, and the breaker for it, since a tripped breaker will not always look tripped. If those are fine, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may be stopping it from starting, and that calls for a contractor to open it up and test it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this means the furnace is running but not lighting, so the blower pushes room temperature air through the vents instead of heat. A dirty flame sensor or a failing igniter is often the reason it will not catch. It can also mean the furnace is only in the fan cycle, so check that the thermostat is set to heat and not just to run the fan. If it ran fine before and just started blowing cold, treat it as an ignition problem and have it looked at before you rely on it through a cold night.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that keeps going out is almost always the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is lit. When it wears out or sits out of position, the valve reads no flame and shuts the gas off even though the pilot was burning a second ago. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot opening can also do it. This is not something to keep relighting on your own since it means the safety system is doing its job. It calls for a licensed contractor to check the thermocouple and the gas valve.