Furnace Repair in Mason City, IA
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Cerro Gordo County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts real wear on your furnace
Mason City needs heat from October through May. That is eight months of the burner cycling on and off, night after night, to keep up with winter lows that average 12°F. Every one of those cycles asks the igniter to light the burner and the blower to push the heat through the house.
Most homes here run on gas, and gas furnaces depend on that igniter lighting cleanly every time. After thousands of cycles in a winter this long, it wears down and starts to fail. You will notice the blower running with no heat coming out of the vents, or the furnace trying to start and shutting back off. Cerro Gordo County has also seen 38 winter storms in the last ten years. When the power drops during one of those, the furnace stops entirely until it is back, even if nothing inside it is broken.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 12°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 71%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 38 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 Cerro Gordo County home.
Estimates for a typical Cerro Gordo 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 state license is held by the contractor, not issued job by job. That means the Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board has tested and recorded the person or company before they ever get to your furnace, not just the work order for this repair.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the work. Gas furnaces need a sound connection at every joint, and in Cerro Gordo County most homes, 71.1 percent, heat with gas. The contractor's license is what tells you the state has already checked their qualification to do that safely.
Sources: Iowa Legislature · Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check the batteries if it uses them. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker and the furnace's own power switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit. Some furnaces also have a door safety switch that keeps the furnace off if the panel isn't seated right. A furnace that still won't respond after that has an ignition or control problem a contractor needs to look at.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If the air is cold and not just cool, the burners may not be lighting even though the blower is running. That points to an ignition problem, a dirty flame sensor, or a gas supply issue. Check that the gas valve to the furnace is open. If the blower runs constantly on cold air, the thermostat fan setting may be stuck on rather than auto, which moves air without heat behind it. Either way, a furnace that won't light needs a contractor to find out why.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This is almost always the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve it's safe to keep gas flowing. When it wears out or sits out of position, the valve shuts the pilot off as a safety measure. A draft blowing across the pilot can also snuff it out. Cleaning the sensor or relighting the pilot yourself is fine to try, but if it keeps going out, the thermocouple likely needs replacing, and that's a job for a contractor since it involves the gas valve.