Furnace Repair in Provo, UT
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Utah County will get in touch.
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Provo asks a lot of your furnace
Your furnace has to run from September through May here, nine months of the year. On winter nights that average 18°F, it cycles on and off again and again to hold the house steady. Every one of those cycles puts a little more wear on the igniter and the burner.
Most homes in this area heat with gas, so when the igniter finally gives out, there is no backup keeping the house warm. Utah County also sees its share of winter storms and high wind, and power interruptions during those stretches can shut a furnace down until the power comes back and it resets on its own. If your furnace is short cycling, blowing cold air, or not starting at all, that is the strain of a long heating season catching up with it.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 18°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 81%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 80 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 Utah County home.
Estimates for a typical Utah 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 state tested the contractor before handing out that license. The Division of Professional Licensing keeps a record of who holds one. The license covers the contractor as a whole, not the specific repair happening at your house. Utah also draws a line at $7,000. Work under that amount does not need to go through a licensed contractor at all.
A furnace repair often falls under that threshold, depending on what the job costs. Where it does, the license requirement does not apply the way it would on a full system replacement. What matters most on a gas furnace is the gas connection itself. A bad seal or a bad fitting is the part of the job that can hurt someone. In Utah County, where most homes heat with gas, that connection is the detail worth caring about on this job.
Sources: Utah State Legislature · Utah Department of Commerce
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, and check the batteries if it uses them. If the thermostat looks fine, check the breaker box and the furnace power switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit. A gas furnace also needs the gas valve open and the pilot light or igniter working, so if power and gas both check out, the problem is likely inside the unit and needs a contractor to look at it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the furnace is still in its startup cycle, and air can feel cool for a short time before the burners kick in and the air warms up. If cold air keeps coming, check the air filter, since a clogged one can choke airflow and trigger the furnace to shut down its burners while the fan keeps running. If the filter is clean and the air stays cold, the igniter or flame sensor may have failed, and that's a repair for a licensed contractor.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit usually means the thermocouple has failed. That's the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning, and once it wears out, the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure even though the flame is there. A draft blowing out the pilot or a dirty pilot opening can also cause this. Either way, this involves the gas line and should go to a licensed contractor rather than a repeated relight.