Furnace Repair in Aquia Harbour, VA
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Stafford County will get in touch.
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Seven months of heat, and the power to run it
Aquia Harbour needs a working furnace from October through April, seven months of the year. On nights that average 28°F, the burner is lighting and shutting off over and over, and every one of those cycles depends on the igniter catching cleanly. Enough cycles and the igniter wears down until it stops catching at all.
56.3% of homes here heat with electricity, so the furnace only runs if the power does. Stafford County has logged 8 winter storms and 132 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and across Virginia, 22% of households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024. Most furnaces come back on by themselves once power returns. If yours does not, or the house stays cold after the lights are back, something else needs a look.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 28°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 8 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Virginia issues this license through the Board for Contractors, and it covers the contractor, not each job. It means the state tested this contractor and keeps a record of who they are. There is one exception. Work under $1,000 does not need a licensed contractor. A furnace repair can land on either side of that line depending on what the problem turns out to be.
Above that $1,000 line, the license is what stands behind the work being done on this furnace. Furnace repair often means working on the gas line and the connections feeding it, and that is the part where a mistake turns dangerous. Below the $1,000 line, Virginia does not require that license for the job at all.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- The most common reason is the thermostat isn't calling for heat, or power to the furnace is interrupted. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check the breaker. If those are fine, the igniter or the flame sensor may have failed, or a safety switch has shut the furnace down. A furnace won't run if it senses a problem, even a minor one, so it's doing what it's built to do. A contractor can test each part and find which one is stopping it from starting.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the blower is running but the burners haven't lit, so air moves through the vents without being heated. This can happen if the igniter is worn out or the flame sensor is dirty and can't detect a flame, which shuts the gas off as a safety measure. It can also mean the thermostat fan setting is on instead of auto, which runs the blower continuously between heat cycles. If the air stays cold and never warms up, the furnace needs a look from a contractor to find out why it isn't lighting.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve a flame is present, has failed or is out of position. When it can't sense the flame, the gas valve shuts off even if the pilot was lit a moment ago. A draft near the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. Relighting it yourself may work for a night, but if it keeps going out, the part behind it needs to be checked, since it exists to shut off gas when something is wrong.