Furnace Repair in Tuckahoe, VA
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Henrico County will get in touch.
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Seven months of heat puts real wear on your furnace
Tuckahoe homes need heat from October through April. That's seven months of the burner cycling on and off, and on nights that average 30°F, it's running long stretches to keep up. Each cycle puts a small strain on the parts that start it, and over a winter that adds up.
Most homes here heat with electricity, so when the power goes out, the furnace stops too. Henrico County sees its share of winter storms and wind, and in Virginia last year, 22% of households lost power for a day or more. When it comes back on, a furnace that was already due for attention can be the one that doesn't restart clean.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 30°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 17 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. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so it covers every furnace they work on, not just this one.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the work. A gas connection is the part of the job that can go wrong in a dangerous way, and the license is what puts a name and a record behind the person making it. Virginia does not require a licensed contractor for work under $1,000, so a small furnace fix can fall below that line.
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 the way you expect, either from dead batteries, a tripped breaker, or a setting that got bumped. Check the breaker panel next, since a furnace on its own circuit can trip without affecting anything else in the house. If power and thermostat both check out, the igniter or the flame sensor is often the next thing to fail, and neither is something to test yourself. A contractor can tell within a few minutes which of these it is.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the burners aren't lighting even though the blower is running, so you feel air movement but no heat behind it. This can come from a dirty flame sensor, a failed igniter, or a gas valve that isn't opening. It can also happen partway through a heating cycle, when the blower keeps running for a minute after the burners shut off to clear leftover heat from the coil. If the air stays cold the whole time the furnace runs, that points to the burners themselves and needs a contractor to look at the ignition system.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This is almost always the thermocouple, 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 slightly out of position, 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, so check for anything blocking the vent hood outside. If relighting it doesn't hold for more than a few seconds, the thermocouple needs to be replaced, and that's a job for a licensed contractor.