Furnace Repair in Butte, MT
Furnaces here run from August through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Silver Bow County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Butte asks a lot of a furnace, almost all year
Your furnace runs from August through June, eleven months a year, in a place where winter nights average 14°F. On the coldest nights it is cycling on and off for hours to hold that line, and every start puts load on the igniter and the flame sensor. Over eleven months those parts see a lot of starts.
Storms add another kind of strain. Silver Bow County has logged 49 winter storms and 17 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and statewide, 18% of households lost power for a full day or more in 2024. A furnace that loses power mid-cycle and comes back on when it returns is normal. One that won't restart, or won't hold a flame once it does, is telling you something wore out.
- 11 months
- August through June, your furnace is on duty
- 14°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 64%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 49 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 Silver Bow County home.
Estimates for a typical Silver Bow County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Montana 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.
Montana requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state tested this contractor before handing out the license, and the Department of Labor and Industry keeps that record. It covers the contractor as a business, not the specific repair happening at your house. If the furnace work on your invoice comes to less than $2,500, the state does not require the person doing it to hold that license at all.
A furnace repair usually means someone is working on a gas line, a burner, or an igniter, and a bad connection there is the part that can hurt someone. Montana's licensing covers who is allowed to run an HVAC business, not a separate inspection of the gas work itself. Most furnace repairs in Silver Bow County are gas furnace repairs, since 64.3% of homes here heat with gas.
Source: Montana Legislature
- 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, since a setting bumped by accident is the simplest fix. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker and the furnace's own power switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit. Furnaces also won't start if the flame sensor is dirty or the igniter has failed, since the control board reads these as unsafe to run and shuts down. With winter lows here averaging 14°F, a furnace that won't start needs attention fast, and a contractor can find which of these it is.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the blower is running before the burners have caught up, which happens for a few seconds after startup and isn't a problem. If cold air keeps blowing, the igniter or flame sensor may be failing, so the burners never light while the fan keeps moving air. A dirty filter can also cause this by restricting airflow enough that the system struggles to heat properly. If the furnace runs but never warms the house, a gas valve or control board issue is also possible, and a licensed contractor can test which part is at fault.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple has worn out. That's the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to stay open. When it fails, the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure, even though the pilot lit just fine a moment earlier. A draft blowing out the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can also cause this. Since this involves gas, it's worth having a licensed contractor replace the part rather than repeatedly relighting it. A contractor can price the job once they've seen the furnace.