Furnace Repair in Sidney, MT
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Richland County will get in touch.
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Nine months of heat, and nights near zero
Sidney needs a working furnace from September through May. That's nine months of the year, and on the coldest nights it's running against an average low of 6°F. The burner is cycling on and off for hours at a stretch to hold the house at temperature, and every cycle puts a little more wear on the igniter and the flame sensor.
Most homes here heat with gas, so when the furnace won't light, there's no backup running in the next room. Add in the wind. Richland County has logged 91 damaging wind events over the last ten years, and wind that strong gets into the flue and the intake, which can push a furnace into safety shutdown right when you need it least.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 6°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 55%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 18 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 Richland County home.
Estimates for a typical Richland 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.
Montana licenses HVAC contractors through the Department of Labor and Industry. That license is tied to the contractor, not to each job, so it stays in place across every furnace repair that contractor takes on. It means the state tested this contractor and keeps a record of them. One exception applies here. In Montana, work under $2,500 does not need a licensed contractor at all.
Above that dollar amount, the license is what stands behind a furnace repair in this state, since Montana licenses at the state level rather than leaving it to the county. A furnace repair often means working on the gas connection, and that is the part where a mistake turns dangerous. The same license that qualifies a contractor to do the repair covers that part of the job too. More than half the homes in Richland County heat with gas, so that gas connection is part of the job for a lot of furnaces here.
Source: Montana Legislature
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most of the time it's the thermostat, a tripped breaker, or the furnace switch getting bumped off. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and above room temperature, and check the breaker panel before anything else. If the furnace has a standing pilot, the pilot may have gone out, and if it's got an igniter instead, that part can fail and stop the furnace from starting at all. A closed gas valve will also keep it from firing, so make sure that's open too.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If the blower is running but the air feels cold, the furnace likely hasn't ignited even though the fan is on. That points to a bad igniter, a flame sensor that shut off the gas, or a closed gas valve. A dirty filter can also choke off airflow enough that the air coming out feels cooler than it should. If nine months of the year here depend on this furnace working, it's worth having a contractor check the ignition system rather than waiting to see if it fixes itself.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This is almost always the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it wears out or sits out of position, it reads the flame as out and shuts the gas off even though the pilot is lit. A draft blowing across the pilot can cause the same problem, so check for that too. Either way, this isn't something to keep relighting on your own since it means the safety system is doing its job by cutting gas to a pilot it can't confirm is burning.