Furnace Repair in Cleveland, OH
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Cuyahoga County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat wears a furnace down
Your furnace runs from October through May here, eight months of the year. On nights that average 23°F, it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch to keep the house warm. Every start puts a load on the igniter and the blower motor, and over enough winters that wear adds up.
Cuyahoga County has seen 17 winter storms and 221 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms like that knock out power. Across Ohio, 18% of households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024. Most gas furnaces need electricity to run the blower and controls, so when the power drops, so does your heat, even with the gas still on. When it comes back, the furnace should start again on its own, but if it does not, that is worth a call.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 23°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 17 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $170 a year off heating for a typical Cuyahoga County home.
Estimates for a typical Cuyahoga County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Ohio 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 Ohio, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the counties.
Cuyahoga County sets its own rule for who can do this work, since Ohio leaves HVAC licensing to the counties rather than handling it at the state level. Ohio's definition of a home contractor calls for at least $250,000 in liability insurance, but that is a definition written into state law, not a license anyone issues or checks.
Because there's no state license behind this job, what protects you here depends on what the county itself checks. A furnace repair means someone is working on a gas connection, and that's the part that has to be right. Whether that gets inspected comes down to Cuyahoga County's own process, not a state licensing board. In this county, 80.2 percent of homes heat with gas, which is the fuel a furnace like this one runs on.
Source: Ohio Legislative Service Commission
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it's set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, since a setting bumped by accident is a common cause. Check the breaker next, because a tripped breaker will cut power to the furnace without any other sign. If the breaker is fine and the thermostat looks right, the igniter or the flame sensor may have failed, and that needs a contractor to check.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Air that stays cold usually means the burners aren't lighting, even though the blower is still running. A dirty flame sensor is a common reason for this, since it shuts the gas off as a safety measure when it can't detect a flame. It can also mean the igniter has failed. Either way, the blower running without heat behind it is a job for a contractor, not something to wait out.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit is usually a sign the thermocouple has failed. That's the small part that senses the flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to stay open, and once it wears out, the valve shuts the gas off even though the pilot lit for a second. Wind or a draft in the flue can also blow a weak pilot out. If relighting it doesn't hold, it's worth having a contractor replace the thermocouple rather than keep relighting it.