Furnace Repair in Saratoga Springs, NY
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Saratoga County will get in touch.
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Nine months of heat puts real wear on your furnace
Furnace season in Saratoga Springs runs from September through May, nine months of the year. On the coldest nights, when lows average 15°F, the burner is lighting and shutting off most often, and each start puts a little more wear on the igniter and the flame sensor. Over nine months that wear adds up.
57.8% of homes here heat with gas, so a furnace that will not light or will not stay lit is a common way this trouble shows up. Saratoga County has also seen 48 winter storms and 399 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and a gas furnace with electronic ignition will not restart on its own once the power comes back. If your house is cold and the furnace is not responding after an outage, that is often where to look first.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 15°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 58%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 48 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 Saratoga County home.
Estimates for a typical Saratoga 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 and the power switch. Make sure the thermostat is set to heat and set above room temperature, and check that the furnace's power switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit, is on. If those are fine, check the breaker and the furnace door, since most furnaces will not run unless the front panel is seated and latched correctly. Gas furnaces also need the pilot lit or the igniter working, so if the burners never catch, that points to an ignition problem a contractor will need to look at.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the furnace is running the blower without the burners lit. When you first turn on the heat, the blower can push out cool air for a short time before the air warms, and that is normal. If cold air keeps coming the whole time it runs, the burners may not be igniting, which can come from a dirty flame sensor or an igniter that is failing. A dirty air filter can also cause problems by restricting airflow, so check whether it needs changing before calling anyone.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple isn't sensing the flame properly, so the gas valve shuts back off. The thermocouple is a small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve the flame is lit. If it's dirty, out of position, or worn out, it can't hold that signal and the gas shuts off even though the pilot was burning. A draft blowing out the pilot is another common cause, so check for anything nearby that could be pushing air across it. A contractor can test the thermocouple and replace it if that's the problem.