Furnace Repair in Binghamton, NY
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Broome County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Nine months of heat puts real wear on a furnace
From September through May your furnace is the thing keeping the house livable. On the nights that average 18°F here, it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch, and every one of those starts puts a load on the igniter and the burner. Over nine months that adds up to a lot of cycles, and that is usually where trouble shows up first, a furnace that clicks but does not light, or one that starts and then shuts back off.
Most homes here heat with gas, and that furnace still needs electricity to run the blower and controls. The area has seen 18 winter storms and 248 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and in New York, 11% of households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024. When the power drops on a cold night, the furnace stops with it.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 18°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 59%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 18 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 Broome County home.
Estimates for a typical Broome County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, New York 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.
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is set above the room temperature, and check the batteries if it uses them. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker for the furnace and the switch that looks like a light switch near the unit, sometimes it gets bumped off. A furnace that still won't start after that usually has an ignition problem or a safety switch holding it off, and that needs a contractor to check.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the blower is running before the burners have caught up, which is normal for a short stretch after the furnace starts. If cold air keeps coming for more than a few minutes, or it never warms up, the igniter or the gas valve may not be lighting the burners at all. A dirty filter can also starve the burners of the airflow they need to run right, so check that first. If the air stays cold, a contractor will need to look at the ignition system.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually comes down to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it wears out or sits out of position, the valve shuts the gas off even though the flame was fine a moment before. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. Either way, this is a gas component and a contractor should be the one to relight and fix it.