Furnace Repair in Muscatine, IA
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Muscatine County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat puts a lot of hours on your furnace
From October through May your furnace is the thing standing between your house and a Muscatine County winter. Nights average 17°F from December through February, so it is not running on the coldest few days, it is running every night for months. That means constant cycling, the burner lighting, shutting off, lighting again, hour after hour.
Most homes here heat with gas, and gas furnaces depend on an igniter to start the burner every single cycle. All that starting wears the igniter down over time, and a weak one either delays ignition or stops lighting the burner at all. Iowa also sees its share of winter storms and wind, and power loss shuts a furnace down completely, blower and all, no matter how sound the rest of it is.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 17°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 70%
- 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 $100 a year off heating for a typical Muscatine County home.
Estimates for a typical Muscatine 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 Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board issues the license and keeps the record of who holds one. It is tied to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license covers the next furnace they work on and the one after that.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the person in your house. Furnace work means gas lines and burner connections, and a bad connection is the dangerous part of the job. In Iowa, the license is what you have to go on for that. Most homes in Muscatine County heat with gas, so this is the rule most furnace repairs here fall under.
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 set above room temperature, and change the batteries if it takes them. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker and the furnace's power switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit. Many furnaces also have a door that has to be seated correctly against a safety switch, so if it was recently opened for a filter change, make sure it's closed all the way. If none of that brings it on, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may have failed, and that's a job for a contractor.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- The most common reason is a dirty filter choking off airflow, so check that first. A clogged filter makes the furnace run hot inside and shut off its burners while the blower keeps pushing air, which comes out cold. If the filter is clean, the igniter or flame sensor may be failing partway through the cycle, or the thermostat fan setting may be set to "on" instead of "auto", which runs the blower even when the burners aren't firing. Winter nights here average 17°F, so a furnace that can't hold a flame will show it fast. A contractor can check the igniter and flame sensor directly.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple isn't sensing the flame correctly and is shutting off the gas as a safety measure. It can also happen if the pilot orifice is dirty or if there's a draft near the pilot assembly. Try relighting it following the instructions on the furnace, and if it goes out again within a few minutes, the thermocouple likely needs adjustment or replacement. Newer furnaces don't have a standing pilot at all, so if yours is older, a contractor can check the thermocouple and pilot assembly and tell you if the part needs replacing.