Furnace Repair in Newport, VT
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Orleans County will get in touch.
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Nine months of heat, and nights near zero
In Newport, furnaces run from September through May. On the coldest nights, the temperature averages 9°F, and the burner is cycling on and off most of the night to keep up. Each cycle puts a load on the igniter and the burner assembly, and over nine months that adds up to a lot of starts.
More than half the homes here heat with fuel oil, and an oil furnace depends on a clean nozzle and a steady flow to fire correctly. Orleans County has seen 37 winter storms and 36 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and a furnace goes out whenever the power does. It comes back on once power is restored, but if something was already wearing thin, that restart is when it shows.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 9°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 37 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Vermont has no state license for HVAC contractors.
There is no state license or registration behind the name on the truck. No test, no state file, no number to check. Vermont leaves this trade alone at the state level, so whatever protection exists has to come from somewhere else.
For a furnace repair, that somewhere else is not a credential at all. A bad gas connection is the dangerous part of this job, and Vermont has no state record naming who is qualified to make one.
Source: Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- The most common reason is the thermostat isn't calling for heat, or power to the furnace has been cut off somewhere along the line. Check that the thermostat is set above room temperature and the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit, is on. A tripped breaker or a blown fuse will also stop it cold. If those check out, the igniter or the flame sensor may have failed, and a furnace this far into winter shouldn't sit dark for long with lows near 9°F. A contractor can test the igniter and sensor and tell you which one needs replacing.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit, so air is moving without being heated. A dirty flame sensor is a common cause, since it shuts the gas valve down as a safety measure when it can't sense a flame. It can also mean the furnace is in the middle of its normal cycle, blowing a few seconds of cool air before the heat exchanger warms up. If the air stays cold for more than a few minutes, something upstream has failed and a contractor should look at the ignition system.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually comes down to the thermocouple, a small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to stay open. When it wears out or sits slightly out of position, the valve reads no flame and shuts the gas off, even though the pilot was lit a second ago. A draft blowing out the pilot is the other common cause, especially in an older furnace closet. A standing pilot doesn't use electricity, so power outages, which hit close to a fifth of Vermont households for at least 24 hours in 2024, aren't the issue here. A contractor can replace the thermocouple, which is a quick, inexpensive part on most furnaces.