Furnace Repair in Visalia, CA
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Tulare County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat wear on a furnace here
Visalia homes need the furnace on from October through May, eight months of the year. Winter nights average 31°F, cold enough that the burner cycles on and off through the night to keep the house warm.
Every cycle puts a small load on the igniter and the flame sensor, the parts that light the burner and confirm it's burning safely. Over that many months of use, the wear catches up, and a furnace that started fine in October can start refusing to light by February. Tulare County has also logged 149 winter storms and 191 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and power drops with them. Most gas furnaces need electricity to fire the igniter, so when the power goes out, the furnace stays off until it's back, even though 67.5% of homes here heat with gas.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 31°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 68%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 149 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 Tulare County home.
Estimates for a typical Tulare County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, California 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.
California requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the Contractors State License Board, and the board tests the contractor before issuing it and keeps a record of who holds one. It covers the contractor as a business, not each job. A contractor licensed to repair your furnace is licensed the same way for a water heater install across town.
For a furnace repair, the gas connection is the part that matters most, since that is where a mistake turns dangerous. In California that work falls under the same license the board already tested and recorded, so the accountability sits with the contractor rather than with the job itself. In Tulare County, where 67.5% of homes heat with gas, that is the protection in place before anyone touches the line.
Sources: California Legislative Counsel · Contractors State License Board
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat, or power to the furnace has been interrupted. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room level. Check the breaker too, and if the furnace has a standing pilot, make sure it hasn't gone out. If power was out recently, some furnaces need the switch cycled or the thermostat reset before they'll fire again. If all of that checks out and it still won't start, a contractor can test the igniter, the flame sensor, and the control board to find what's actually failed.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is coming out cold right when the furnace starts, that's normal. It takes a minute or two for the burners to light and the heat exchanger to warm up before the air feels warm. If it stays cold the whole time it runs, the burners may not be lighting at all, or the flame sensor is shutting them off soon after they do. A dirty filter can also starve the system of airflow and trip a safety switch that stops heat production while the blower keeps running. If the air never warms up, a contractor should check the ignition system and the filter before anything else.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit is usually a sign the thermocouple has worn out. That's the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to keep gas flowing. When it fails, the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure, even though the flame was fine. Drafts near the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. A contractor can test the thermocouple and replace it if that's the cause.