Furnace Repair in Bloomington, IN
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Monroe County will get in touch.
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It takes about a minute.
Seven months of heat, and nights that drop to 24
Your furnace works from October through April here, and on the cold nights that average 24°F, it is cycling on and off for hours to hold the house steady. Every start puts load on the igniter and the flame sensor, and over enough winters one of them gives out. That is when you get a furnace that clicks and tries but will not stay lit.
Monroe County has logged 9 winter storms and 44 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and 48.6% of homes here heat with electricity. When the power drops, the furnace stops with it, blower and all, and most will not start again on their own once the power is back.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 9 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
In Indiana, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the counties and cities.
Indiana leaves this to the counties and cities, so what applies in Monroe County is whatever Monroe County or its cities have set up, not a state license. That could be a local licensing system for HVAC contractors, or it could be nothing at all. Either way, there is no state record of this contractor, because Indiana does not keep one.
For a furnace repair, the part that matters most is the gas connection, since that is the dangerous part of the job. Whether anyone checks that connection here depends on what Monroe County or its cities require, not on any rule from the state. Indiana itself has no license standing behind this work.
Sources: Indiana Department of Workforce Development · State of Indiana
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat is calling for heat but something in the safety chain is stopping the furnace from responding. Check that the thermostat has power and is set below room temperature first. Next check the switch on the furnace itself, it looks like a light switch and sits on or near the unit, along with the door panel, which has to be seated tight or the furnace won't fire. If the filter is packed with dust the furnace may be shutting itself down to protect against overheating. When none of that explains it, the igniter or a safety switch inside has likely failed, and that calls for a contractor to check.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it is not warm, the furnace is usually not firing at all, just running its fan. A dirty filter can choke off airflow enough that the furnace overheats and cuts the burners while the fan keeps going. It can also mean the igniter failed to light the burners, or the thermostat fan setting is stuck on rather than auto. Since your heat has to carry the house through winter lows around 24°F here, a furnace that will not fire is worth getting looked at right away rather than waiting it out.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit almost always means the thermocouple has worn out. That's the small metal rod that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it is safe to keep the gas open. When it wears out or sits out of position, the valve reads the flame as absent and shuts the gas off, even though the pilot lit fine a moment earlier. Wind reaching the pilot through a blocked or damaged vent can also blow it out. A contractor can test the thermocouple and replace it, since a standing pilot won't relight itself and shouldn't be forced to.