Furnace Repair in Madison, SD
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lake County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Nine months of heat in Madison wears a furnace down
Your furnace works from September through May here. That is 9 months of the year with winter nights averaging 9 degrees. At that temperature the burner is cycling on and off for hours at a stretch, and every cycle puts wear on the igniter and the ignition control.
Most homes in Lake County heat with gas, so when the igniter fails or the flame sensor fouls, the furnace shuts itself off rather than run without a flame it can detect. You will notice it as a furnace that starts to run, then stops, or one that will not start at all on the coldest nights.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 9°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 51%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 27 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $90 a year off heating for a typical Lake County home.
Estimates for a typical Lake 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.
Lake County does not run its own contractor licensing program. Whether this repair is permitted or inspected comes down to the town the house sits in. Some South Dakota towns license HVAC contractors and inspect the work. Others have no such office. There is no statewide list or test standing behind the person who shows up. What paperwork exists depends on the city, not the state.
A furnace burning gas has one part that matters most. The connection carrying that gas has to be sound, because a leak or a bad seal there is what makes this job dangerous. Where a town has a building or inspections department, that is who checks a gas connection after repair work. Where no such department exists, nothing at the local level does. About half the homes in Lake County heat with gas, so this setup is common here, not the exception.
Source: South Dakota Legislature
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- The thermostat or the power supply is usually behind this. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check that the furnace switch and breaker are both on. If the furnace has a standing pilot, a pilot that has gone out will stop it from firing. If those check out and it still won't start, a contractor can test the ignition system and the safety switches, since a furnace won't run if one of those senses a problem.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit. A dirty flame sensor is a common cause, since it shuts the gas off as a safety measure when it can't detect a flame. A clogged filter can also starve the burners of the airflow they need to stay running. If the air has stayed cold for a while, especially with winter lows here dropping near 9°F some nights, it's worth having someone look at it soon rather than waiting it out.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually points to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve a flame is present. When it wears out or sits out of position, the valve shuts the gas off soon after you let go of it, even though the flame was burning. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot opening can cause the same thing. A contractor can test the thermocouple and clean or adjust the pilot assembly to fix it.