Furnace Repair in Spring Valley, NY
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Rockland County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts real wear on a furnace
Spring Valley needs heat from October through May, and on the coldest nights that average 23°F, your furnace is cycling on and off for hours at a stretch. Most homes here run on gas, so that means repeated ignition, every night, for eight months straight. Each start puts a little more wear on the igniter and the flame sensor, the parts that get worked hardest.
The area has seen 14 winter storms and 42 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and power does go out, in 2024 about 11% of New York households lost power for a day or more. When the power comes back on, your furnace should start up on its own, but if it does not light or the house stays cold after a storm, something in the ignition system likely needs a look.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 23°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 84%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 14 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 Rockland County home.
Estimates for a typical Rockland 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. If the display is blank or the setting is wrong, the furnace never gets the signal to start. Check the breaker next, since a tripped one will keep the whole system dead. If power and the thermostat both check out, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may be stopping it, and that needs a contractor to look at.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the furnace is just starting its cycle and the blower kicked on before the heat exchanger warmed up. That cold air should turn warm within a minute or two. If it stays cold, check the filter. A filter packed with dust blocks airflow and can trip the furnace's limit switch, which shuts off the burner but leaves the blower running. A dirty filter or a burner that won't stay lit both call for a contractor, since either one can leave you without heat on a night near 23°F.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit usually means the thermocouple has worn out. That's the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is burning, and once it fails, the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure even though the flame was there a second ago. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot opening can cause the same thing. A contractor can tell which one it is and replace the part that's failing.