Furnace Repair in Huron, SD
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Beadle County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Nine months of heat put a lot of hours on your furnace
In Huron your furnace runs from September through May. Winter nights average 9°F from December through February, and at that temperature the burner is cycling on and off most of the day to keep up. Each cycle is another start, and the igniter and the flame sensor take the wear from that.
About half the homes here heat with gas, so a lot of furnaces in this county are running that same cycle night after night. When the igniter finally wears out, the furnace won't light at all and the house starts to cool down fast at 9 degrees outside.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 9°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 23 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 Beadle County home.
Estimates for a typical Beadle County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, South Dakota 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.
In South Dakota, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the cities and towns.
South Dakota leaves the licensing question to the town, so what applies to a furnace repair in Beadle County depends on whether that town has its own ordinance. Some towns do, and a contractor there has to hold that town's license. Others don't, and in that case there's no license standing between a homeowner and whoever they hire.
A furnace repair means someone is working on a gas line and a burner assembly, and the part that matters is whether that connection is sound before the furnace runs again. Where a town has no licensing rule, nothing outside the contractor's own word confirms that. Close to half the homes in Beadle County heat with gas, and for those homes, this is the piece of the job with no state check behind it.
Source: South Dakota Legislature
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- The most common reason is the thermostat is not calling for heat, or the furnace itself has lost power. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature. If that looks right, check the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch, and the circuit breaker. A clogged filter can also make the furnace shut itself off before it starts. If none of that brings it back on, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may have failed, and that needs a contractor to look at it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the furnace is running but not firing, so air is moving through the ducts without being heated. This can happen when the pilot or igniter has failed, when the gas valve has shut off, or when a safety switch has stopped the burners as a precaution. It can also happen right when the furnace starts a cycle, since the blower can begin moving air just before the burners light. If the air stays cold through a full cycle, the burners are not lighting and a contractor needs to find out why. With winter lows here averaging 9°F, this is not something to leave for long.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is lit, has worn out or is out of position. When it cannot sense the flame, it shuts the gas off as a safety measure even though the pilot was burning a moment ago. A draft blowing across the pilot can also blow it out repeatedly. Either way, this is a repair for a licensed contractor, since it involves the gas valve. In South Dakota, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the cities and towns, so who is licensed to do this work depends on where the house is.