Furnace Repair in Tooele, UT
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Tooele County will get in touch.
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Eight months of winter wears a furnace down in Tooele County
From October through May, your furnace is what stands between you and a 20°F night. That is eight months of the burner lighting and shutting off, over and over. Each cycle puts a little more wear on the igniter, the part that has to strike a flame every time the thermostat calls for heat.
Most homes here heat with gas, so when the igniter finally gives out, there is no backup keeping the house warm. Tooele County has logged 14 winter storms and 497 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and some Utah households lose power for a day or more when weather like that hits. A furnace already worn down from a long heating season has less left to give when the power comes back and the house has gone cold.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 20°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 77%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 14 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $100 a year off heating for a typical Tooele County home.
Estimates for a typical Tooele 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 license is held by the contractor, not tied to any single job, so it covers this repair the same way it covers every job that contractor takes on. It is issued through the Division of Professional Licensing. Utah also sets a line at $7,000. Work under that amount does not need a licensed contractor at all.
A furnace repair can land on either side of that line, so whether the license applies depends on what the job ends up costing. What does not change is the gas connection itself, since that is the part that turns a bad repair into a dangerous one. Most homes in Tooele County heat with gas, 77 percent of them, so that connection is the part worth caring about on a furnace call here.
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 the furnace isn't getting power. Check that the thermostat is set above room temperature and has fresh batteries if it takes them. After that, check the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit, and the breaker at your panel. If those are fine and it still won't start, a licensed contractor will need to check the igniter and the safety switches inside.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Cold air blowing from the vents usually means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit. That can come from a dirty flame sensor, a bad igniter, or a clogged filter that's making the furnace overheat and shut its burners off as a safety measure. Check the filter first since that's the one thing you can fix yourself. If the filter is clean and you're still getting cold air, the burners or the sensor need a contractor's attention.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This points to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it wears out or sits out of position, the valve shuts off the gas as a safety measure, and the pilot goes out. A draft blowing on the pilot can also do it. This isn't something to keep relighting on your own since it involves the gas valve. A licensed contractor can test the thermocouple and replace it if that's the cause.