Furnace Repair in Chester, VA
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Chesterfield County will get in touch.
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Seven months of work, on nights near freezing
Chester needs heat from October through April. That is seven months a year the furnace is expected to work, and on winter nights that average 30°F, it runs long stretches to keep up. Most homes here heat with electricity, so when the furnace has a problem, there is no backup source of warmth in the house.
Chesterfield County sees its share of winter storms and damaging wind, and Virginia households have lost power for a day or more often enough that it is a real risk here. A furnace that already has a worn part is more likely to fail right when a storm knocks the power out or a cold snap pushes it hardest, leaving you to notice the house not warming up at the worst possible time.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 30°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 9 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.
The license is issued to the contractor, not to each job, so it does not need to be reissued or reposted for your repair specifically. It means the state tested this contractor and keeps a record of them through the Board for Contractors. Work under $1,000 falls outside that requirement, so a small furnace repair can sometimes be done without a licensed contractor.
A furnace repair usually runs past that threshold, which puts it under the license requirement rather than outside it. That matters because a furnace burns gas, and a loose fitting or bad connection there is the dangerous part of the job. The state license is what stands behind that work in Virginia, not a separate inspection or federal card, since gas furnace repair is not the same as refrigerant work.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is set above the room temperature, and check the batteries if it uses them. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker panel and any switch on or near the furnace that may have been bumped off. Furnaces also have a safety switch on the door panel, and if the panel isn't seated all the way, the furnace won't run. Beyond that, the problem is likely inside the unit, in the ignition system or a safety control that's shut it down, and that calls for a contractor to open it up and test it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the furnace hasn't actually started heating yet. When it first kicks on, air moves through the ducts for a short time before it warms up, so a little cool air at the start is normal. If the air stays cold the whole time it runs, the burners likely aren't lighting even though the blower is, which points to the ignition system or gas supply. A dirty filter can also choke airflow enough to trip a safety limit and shut the burners off while the fan keeps running. Either way, a furnace blowing air that never warms up needs a contractor to look at the ignition and burner side of the system.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple isn't sensing the flame and is shutting the gas off as a safety measure. It can also mean the pilot orifice is dirty or there's a draft in the area reaching the flame. Older furnaces still use a standing pilot, and many newer ones use an electronic igniter instead, so if yours doesn't have a visible pilot light, the light-goes-out problem is happening somewhere else in the ignition system. Either way, this is a gas component, so it's worth having a contractor check it rather than repeatedly relighting it yourself.