Furnace Repair in Sioux Falls, SD
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Minnehaha County will get in touch.
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Nine months of heat puts real wear on a furnace here
Your furnace in Minnehaha County runs from September through May. That is nine months of the year it has to work, and on nights that average 10°F, it runs long and hard to keep up.
That kind of demand wears on the parts that start the burner and keep it running. An igniter that has cycled on and off all winter can fail without warning, and the house goes cold fast when it does. With most homes here heating with gas, a furnace that will not light is the most common reason for the call.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 10°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 64%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 36 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 Minnehaha County home.
Estimates for a typical Minnehaha 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.
Whether a furnace repair in Minnehaha County needs a licensed contractor comes down to the city. South Dakota has no state HVAC license. The rule depends entirely on where the house sits, and there is no state list to check because South Dakota does not keep one.
A gas furnace repair matters because of what a bad connection can do. In Minnehaha County that is not a rare case. Gas heats 64.2% of homes here. Whatever check exists on that work comes from whichever city the house is in, not from a state license, since South Dakota does not issue one.
Source: South Dakota Legislature
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Check the thermostat first. Make sure it's set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, since a setting bumped a few degrees can leave the furnace sitting idle. Next check the power switch on or near the furnace itself, it looks like a light switch and gets bumped off sometimes. If the switch is on and the thermostat looks right, the igniter, the flame sensor or the pressure switch may be the problem, and those need a contractor to check.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit. A dirty flame sensor is a common cause, it tells the furnace to shut off the gas if it doesn't sense a flame, even when the flame is fine. A clogged filter can also cause this by overheating the furnace and tripping a safety switch before the air ever warms up. If you've checked the filter and thermostat and it's still blowing cold, a contractor will need to look at the ignition system.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually points to the thermocouple. It's a small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve the flame is lit. When it wears out or sits out of position, the valve shuts the gas off within seconds of the pilot lighting, even though the flame is fine. A draft blowing across the pilot can also blow it out, so check that any nearby vents or doors aren't sending air toward it. If it keeps going out after that, the thermocouple likely needs replacing.