Furnace Repair in Frankfort, KY
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Franklin County will get in touch.
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Seven months of heat puts real wear on a furnace
In Frankfort, a furnace runs from October through April. That is seven months of the burner lighting and shutting off, day after day, to keep up with winter nights that average 27°F. Each cycle puts a little more wear on the igniter and the parts that control the flame, and after enough winters one of them gives out, usually on a cold night when the furnace is working its hardest.
More than half the homes in this area heat with electricity, and Kentucky sees its share of winter storms and high wind, ten winter storms and 51 damaging wind events over the last ten years. When the power drops, an electric furnace stops producing heat until it comes back. Statewide, close to a quarter of households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024. If your furnace won't start after an outage, or it is cycling more than it used to, that is worth having looked at.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 27°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 10 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Kentucky requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Kentucky's Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction issues that license, and it's tied to the contractor, not to the specific job. That's different from a county putting a business on a list or a state just registering a name. A license here means the state has a record of who is doing the work.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the person in your house. Gas is the part that makes this job dangerous if it's done wrong, and Kentucky's licensing is what puts a name and a state record behind whoever handles that gas line.
Sources: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission · Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way it should, or power isn't reaching the furnace. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check the breaker and the furnace's own power switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit. If those are fine, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may be the problem, and that calls for a contractor to open it up and test it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- A furnace blows cold air for a few seconds when it first starts, while it clears the ducts of standing air. If it keeps blowing cold, the burners may not be lighting even though the blower is running. That points to a bad igniter, a dirty flame sensor, or a gas supply problem, and a contractor needs to check which one it is.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- The thermocouple is usually the reason. It's the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve the flame is lit. When it wears out or sits out of position, the gas valve shuts off the pilot as a safety measure even though the flame was fine. Replacing the thermocouple is a job for a licensed contractor, since it means working on the gas valve itself.