Furnace Repair in Reading, PA
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Berks County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts real hours on your furnace
From October through May, your furnace is the thing standing between you and a 23°F night. That is eight months of the burner lighting and shutting off, over and over, and each start puts a little more wear on the igniter. By late winter, a furnace that has been running that long is the one most likely to fail on the coldest night.
Berks County has seen 20 winter storms and 478 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms like that knock out power. A gas furnace still needs electricity to run the blower and the ignition system, so when the power goes out, the furnace stops with it. Most come back on by themselves once power returns. If yours 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
- 20 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $140 a year off heating for a typical Berks County home.
Estimates for a typical Berks 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 business on file with the Bureau of Consumer Protection. Nobody tests the contractor's gas work to get that number, and nobody checks it again after. It tells you the business exists and is on record with the state. It does not tell you who is qualified to work on your furnace.
Berks County can't layer its own HVAC license on top of that, so the registration is the only state-level record you'll find on a contractor here. For a furnace repair, the part that matters most is the gas connection, since a bad one is what makes the job dangerous. Pennsylvania's rule doesn't put an inspector on that connection. In Berks County, 42.3% of homes heat with gas, so that gap sits right in the middle of a job like this one.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most of the time it's the thermostat, a tripped switch, or the furnace not getting power. Check that the thermostat is set below room temperature and has working batteries, then check the switch that looks like a light switch near the furnace, it needs to be on. A breaker can trip too, so check your panel. If the furnace still won't start after that, the igniter or the flame sensor may have failed, and that's a job for a contractor.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If it's blowing cold air, the furnace is likely still warming up or the flame has gone out while the blower keeps running. That's normal for the first minute or so after it kicks on. If cold air keeps coming for longer than that, the igniter or the gas valve may be failing, and the burners aren't lighting even though the fan is. With winter lows here averaging 23°F, that's not something to leave for long. A contractor can tell you which part it is.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit is usually the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is burning. When it wears out, it reads no flame even when there is one, and the valve shuts the gas off. It can also mean a draft is blowing the flame out, or the pilot tube is dirty. A thermocouple is a simple part to replace, but the gas valve behind it isn't something to test yourself.