Furnace Repair in Delaware, OH
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Delaware County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat wears a furnace down
In Delaware County, the furnace runs from October through May. That is eight months of the burner lighting, running, and shutting off, night after night, to keep up with winter lows that average 23°F.
All that cycling puts the wear on the same parts every time. The igniter has to light the burner over and over, and eventually it weakens or fails. Homeowners notice it as a furnace that clicks and tries to start but never catches, or one that runs for a while and then just stops keeping the house warm. With most homes here heating with gas, that kind of ignition trouble is what sends people looking for a repair in the middle of winter.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 23°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 68%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 5 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $150 a year off heating for a typical Delaware County home.
Estimates for a typical Delaware 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.
Delaware County is one of the places in Ohio that sets its own rule for who can do this work, so what applies depends on the county building department rather than a state licensing board. Ohio does define a home contractor as someone carrying at least $250,000 in liability insurance, but that is a definition written into the law, not a license the state issues or tests for.
For a furnace repair, the protection here comes from the county, not a state credential, since the state leaves that decision to the county. A bad gas connection is the part of this job that can hurt someone, and Ohio's rule does not name anyone who checks that connection statewide. In Delaware County, most homes, 67.6 percent, heat with gas, which is the furnace this rule is about.
Source: Ohio Legislative Service Commission
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the power to the furnace. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and above room temperature, and check the breaker and the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed, or a safety switch is holding the furnace off because of a clogged filter or a drain issue on a high-efficiency unit. A furnace that won't start on a cold night isn't something to leave for later. A contractor can test the igniter and the safety switches to find which one is stopping it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit. Check the thermostat fan setting. If it's set to "on" instead of "auto", the blower runs constantly and will blow cold air between heating cycles, which is normal. If the fan is set to "auto" and you're still getting cold air, the igniter, the flame sensor, or the gas valve may be the problem, and the furnace needs a contractor to look at it before it stops producing heat at all.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit usually means the thermocouple has worn out and is no longer sensing the flame properly, so the gas valve shuts off. A draft blowing across the pilot, or a dirty pilot orifice, can also put it out. A standing pilot doesn't need power to work, so a power outage isn't the cause. Relighting it yourself follows the instructions on the furnace, but if it keeps going out, the thermocouple or gas valve needs a contractor's attention.