Furnace Repair in Burlington, VT
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Chittenden County will get in touch.
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Nine months of heat puts real strain on your furnace
Your furnace works from September through May here, nine months of the year. On winter nights that average 12°F, it runs long hours just to hold the house steady, and the burner cycles on and off again and again to keep up. Each cycle puts wear on the igniter and the parts that get the burner lit.
Most homes in the area heat with gas, so a furnace that won't fire back up means a cold house fast. Chittenden County has seen its share of winter storms and wind over the past ten years, and when the power drops, so does your furnace, even if nothing inside it is broken. When the lights come back on, it should too. If yours doesn't restart on its own, or won't light at all, something else is going on.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 12°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 55%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 53 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $150 a year off heating for a typical Chittenden County home.
Estimates for a typical Chittenden County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Vermont 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.
Vermont has no state license for HVAC contractors.
There is no state license or registration behind an HVAC contractor working here, so there is no state test taken and no state record to check against. Anyone can put up a sign and take the job. Vermont leaves this trade with no statewide bar a contractor has to clear.
What matters most on a furnace repair is the gas connection itself. Just over half the homes in Chittenden County heat with gas, and a loose fitting or bad seal is the dangerous part of the job. Vermont has no state licensing board checking that work, and no state record of who did it. There is no license standing behind the person doing the work.
Source: Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often it's the thermostat, the power, or the gas supply. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, since a dead battery in there will stop everything downstream. Next check your breaker panel and the furnace's own power switch, which looks like a regular light switch near the unit. If those are fine, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may have failed, and that's a job for a contractor to diagnose.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- A furnace blows cold air at the start of a cycle and at the end, and that's normal. If it's blowing cold air the whole time it runs, the burners may not be lighting even though the blower is, which points to the igniter, the flame sensor, or a gas supply problem. A clogged filter can also cause this by starving the system of airflow it needs to heat properly. With 9 months of the year needing heat here, this is worth getting looked at quickly rather than waiting it out.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple has worn out or gotten dirty. The thermocouple sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to stay open. When it fails, the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure, and the flame goes out. A draft blowing across the pilot or a partly clogged pilot orifice can cause the same thing, so a contractor will need to check which one it actually is.