Furnace Repair in Washington, PA
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Washington County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat puts a lot of wear on your furnace
Washington County homes need heat from October through May. That is eight months of the burner cycling on and off, night after night, to keep up with lows that average 23°F in December through February. Each cycle lights the burner, runs it, then shuts it down, and the parts that handle that job wear a little more each time.
Most furnaces here run on gas, and the igniter is usually the first part to give out. When it fails, the burner never lights and the house starts cooling off. Power matters too. Statewide, 15% of households went at least a full day without power in 2024, and a furnace will not run without it even if everything else on it is fine.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 23°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 67%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 10 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 Washington County home.
Estimates for a typical Washington 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.
That registration puts the business on file with the state and nothing more. There is no trade exam behind it, no test of what the contractor actually knows about a furnace, and no license number that stands for tested skill. Pennsylvania also keeps cities and towns from layering on their own HVAC license, so the registration is the only state-level record that exists here, in Washington County the same as anywhere else in the state.
For a furnace repair, the part that matters most is the gas connection. That is where a mistake turns dangerous, and registration does not test anyone's gas work. Nothing in the state's rule checks that piece of the job. Most homes in Washington County heat with gas, so this is the part of the work worth knowing has no state exam standing behind it.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the power. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, then look at your breaker panel for a tripped switch. Many furnaces also have a power switch that looks like a light switch, often near the unit itself, and it's easy to knock off by accident. If power and settings check out, the igniter or the flame sensor may have failed, and a contractor will need to test those parts directly.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If the air feels cold but the furnace is running, check the thermostat fan setting first. Set to "on," the fan runs constantly, even between heating cycles when the air isn't being warmed, and that air will feel cool. Set to "auto," the fan only runs while the furnace is actively heating. If the fan is already on auto and you're still getting cold air, the igniter may have failed partway through the cycle, or the furnace may be shutting off before it warms up. That calls for a contractor to look at it.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple has worn out. That's the small part that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to stay open. When it fails, the valve shuts off the gas as soon as you let go of it, even though the pilot lit fine. A draft blowing out the flame is possible too, but if it keeps happening on a still day, the thermocouple is the more likely cause. A contractor can test and replace it.