Furnace Repair in Bedford, VA
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Bedford County will get in touch.
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Bedford asks a lot of a furnace from October to April
Seven months of the year, your furnace is what stands between you and a 28°F night. Most of the wear on a furnace happens at the moment it lights, not while it runs. Ask enough of that igniter or that flame sensor and one night it won't light at all.
Most homes in Bedford County heat with electricity, so when the power goes, the heat goes with it. Statewide, 22% of households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024, and this area has logged 16 winter storms and 131 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A furnace that was working fine before the lights flickered can come back acting like something inside it failed.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 28°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 16 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 licenses HVAC contractors through the Board for Contractors, and the license covers the contractor, not each job. It follows the business from one furnace repair to the next, not the other way around.
For this repair, that license is what stands behind the work, with one exception written into the rule itself. Virginia does not require a licensed contractor for work under $1,000. A furnace repair can fall on either side of that line depending on what the job turns out to need. Gas is the part worth being careful about, since a loose or wrong connection is what makes this repair dangerous, and above that threshold it is a licensed contractor doing the work.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it's set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, since a setting bumped to cool or set too low will leave the furnace idle. Check the power switch on the furnace itself, and check the breaker, since a tripped breaker shuts the whole unit down. If the filter is packed with dust, some furnaces will shut off rather than run with no airflow. If power and settings check out and it still won't fire, a contractor will need to look at the igniter or the control board.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the furnace is just starting a cycle and hasn't warmed up yet, or it's running the fan between heating cycles, which pushes room-temperature air rather than cold air. Check that the thermostat fan setting is on auto, not on. A dirty filter can also block airflow enough that the air feels cool by the time it reaches the vent. If the furnace runs and you feel truly cold air the whole cycle, the igniter or gas valve may not be lighting the burners, and that needs a contractor to check.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit is usually a thermocouple problem. 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 wears out or sits out of position, the valve shuts the gas off as soon as you let go of the button. A draft blowing across the pilot can also snuff it out. Relighting it yourself follows the instructions on the furnace panel, but if it keeps going out, the thermocouple needs to be adjusted or replaced by a contractor.