Furnace Repair in Erie, PA
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Erie County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat a year wears a furnace down
Your furnace runs from October through May here, eight months of the year. On nights that average 20°F, it is not idling. It is cycling on and off for hours at a stretch, and every start puts load on the igniter and the flame sensor. Those are usually the first parts to fail, and when they do, the furnace either won't light or shuts off soon after.
Erie County has logged 29 winter storms and 128 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind like that can push cold air into the flue and affect how the furnace drafts, and storms bring outages. Statewide, 15% of households lost power for a full day or more in 2024. Most gas furnaces need electricity to run the blower and controls, so when the power goes out, so does your heat, even with gas still in the line.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 20°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 78%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 29 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $180 a year off heating for a typical Erie County home.
Estimates for a typical Erie County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Pennsylvania 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.
Pennsylvania requires contractors to register with the state.
Registration puts a contractor's business on file with the Bureau of Consumer Protection. Nobody tests their gas work to get that number, and the state isn't vouching for the repair itself. Pennsylvania also keeps cities and towns from layering on their own HVAC license, so this registration is the only state record that exists no matter where in Erie County you are.
For a furnace repair, the part that matters is the gas connection, since that's where a mistake turns dangerous. Registration doesn't check that work, and nothing in this state's rule does either. In Erie County, 78 percent of homes heat with gas, which is most of them.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way it should, or power isn't reaching the furnace. Check that the thermostat is set above room temperature and has fresh batteries if it uses them. Next look at the furnace switch, the one that looks like a light switch near the unit, and the breaker for it. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed or a safety switch has tripped, and that needs a contractor to check.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Air blows before it heats, so a few seconds of cool air at startup is normal. If it stays cold, the burners may not be lighting even though the blower is running, often because of a bad igniter or flame sensor. It could also mean the furnace is set to fan only instead of heat, so check the thermostat setting first. With nights here dropping to 20°F, a furnace that only pushes cold air needs attention right away.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit usually points to a weak or failing thermocouple, the small part that senses the flame and keeps gas flowing to it. It can also mean a draft is blowing the flame out or the pilot orifice is partly clogged. Try relighting it following the instructions on the furnace. If it goes out again, the thermocouple likely needs replacing, and that is a repair for a licensed contractor since it involves gas and flame sensing parts.