Furnace Repair in Fernley, NV
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lyon County will get in touch.
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Eight months of winter puts real hours on your furnace
Fernley needs 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. Each cycle depends on the igniter to light the burner and the flame sensor to prove it caught. Both wear down faster the more times a day they fire.
Most homes here heat with gas, so when the igniter finally fails, the furnace will not light at all, and the house goes cold fast on a night that cold. Wind is part of the picture too. Lyon County has logged 305 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and wind can push a furnace's vent hood or flue enough to trip the safety switch that shuts the burner down.
- 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
- 126 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $130 a year off heating for a typical Lyon County home.
Estimates for a typical Lyon County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Nevada 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.
Nevada requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Nevada State Contractors Board licenses HVAC contractors in this state, and that license covers the contractor rather than any single job. It is what stands behind the person coming to work on your furnace, on this repair and on whatever job they take on next.
Most homes in Lyon County heat with gas, and opening up a furnace often means working on a gas connection, which is the part of the job where a mistake turns dangerous. In Nevada that work falls under the same state license, so the contractor doing it is the one the state has on record.
Sources: Nevada Legislature · Nevada State Contractors Board
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way it should, or a safety switch has shut the furnace down before it can start. A clogged filter can trip that safety switch by starving the system of airflow, so check the filter first. If the furnace still won't fire after that, a contractor needs to check the igniter and the flame sensor, since either one can stop the whole startup sequence.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Cold air usually means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit, or they've shut off partway through the cycle. A dirty flame sensor is a common cause. It reads the flame incorrectly and cuts the gas before the air has a chance to heat up. It could also just be the blower running its normal fan cycle before the burners catch, so watch whether the air warms up after a minute or stays cold the whole time.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- If the pilot won't stay lit, the thermocouple is likely worn out. That's the small sensor that proves to the gas valve there's a flame, and once it fails, the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure even though the pilot lit fine. A weak gas supply or a draft near the pilot can also blow it out, but a thermocouple that no longer holds is the most common reason. A contractor can test it and replace it if that's the problem.