Furnace Repair in Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Spotsylvania County will get in touch.
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Your furnace works seven months a year here
From October through April your furnace is the thing standing between your house and a 27°F night. That is seven months of the burner cycling on and off, lighting and shutting down over and over as the house calls for heat. Every one of those starts puts a little more wear on the igniter and the flame sensor, and eventually one of them quits. That usually shows up as a furnace that tries to start, clicks, and gives up, or one that runs for a few minutes and shuts itself off.
Most homes in Spotsylvania Courthouse heat with electricity, so when the power goes out, the furnace goes with it. Virginia saw storms knock out power to 22% of households for a full day or more in 2024, and this area has logged 9 winter storms and 149 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A furnace can be in good working order and still leave you cold if the storm takes the power first.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 27°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 state license is issued by the Board for Contractors, and it covers the contractor, not each individual job. When you hire someone to fix your furnace, that license is what stands behind them, not a separate approval for this particular repair.
Virginia carves out an exception for small jobs. Work under $1,000 does not need a licensed contractor. A furnace repair can fall on either side of that line depending on what the job turns out to be. Where the cost puts it above that threshold, the license is what you are checking against.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Usually it's power or a signal that isn't reaching it. Check the thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting bumped too low will stop the call for heat before it starts. After that, look at the breaker and any switch near the furnace itself, since either one being off will keep it dark. If those are fine, the igniter or a safety switch inside the unit may be the problem, and that's a job for a licensed contractor to open up and test.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most of the time the furnace is running but not actually firing. Air moves through the ducts even when the burners haven't lit, so you feel airflow with no heat behind it. A dirty flame sensor or a failed igniter is a common cause, and a clogged filter can also choke off the fire enough that the furnace shuts down and just blows. A licensed contractor can tell which one it is.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A weak or dirty thermocouple is the usual reason. That's the small part that senses the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to stay open, and once it wears out or gets coated in soot, it reads the flame as out even when it isn't and shuts the gas off. A draft blowing across the pilot can also snuff it out. Either way it needs a licensed contractor to clean or replace the part, since it sits right at the gas line.