Furnace Repair in Brigham City, UT
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Box Elder County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts real wear on a Brigham City furnace
From October through May your furnace is the thing standing between your house and a 19°F night. That is eight months of the burner lighting, running, and shutting off, over and over, month after month. Each cycle puts a little more wear on the igniter and the parts that control the burner.
Most homes here heat with gas, so when the furnace won't light, there's no backup warming the house while it sits broken. Box Elder County has also logged 51 winter storms and 159 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and outages do happen. If the power drops, a gas furnace won't fire even with fuel to burn, and most units start right back up on their own once power returns.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 19°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 51 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $120 a year off heating for a typical Box Elder County home.
Estimates for a typical Box Elder County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Utah 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.
Utah requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Division of Professional Licensing issues that license, and it covers the contractor rather than each job. The same license applies whether the work is a furnace repair or a full install. Utah also sets a line at $7,000. Work under that amount does not need a licensed contractor.
Most homes in Box Elder County heat with gas, close to eight in ten. Furnace repair on a gas system means a gas connection is part of the job, and that connection is the part that can hurt someone if it is done wrong. Where the job costs $7,000 or more, the license is what stands behind the person doing that work.
Sources: Utah State Legislature · Utah Department of Commerce
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way it should, or power isn't reaching the furnace. Check that the thermostat is set above room temperature and has fresh batteries if it uses them. Check the furnace switch, the one that looks like a light switch near the unit, and the breaker at your panel. If those are fine, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may be at fault, and that needs a contractor to check.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is running but it's not warm, the furnace may be in fan-only mode, or the burners aren't lighting even though the blower is. Check that the thermostat is set to heat, not just fan. A dirty filter can also cause this, since it starves the burners of the airflow they need to run right. If the filter is clean and the thermostat is set correctly, a contractor will need to look at the ignition system.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple has worn out. That's the small part that 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 soon as you let go of the pilot button, even though the pilot lit fine a second before. A draft blowing out the flame or a dirty pilot orifice can also cause this. A contractor can test the thermocouple and replace it, since it's not something to force back into service.