Furnace Repair in Richmond, KY
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Madison County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of work, on nights that drop to 27°F
Your furnace runs October through April here, seven months of the year. On winter nights averaging 27°F it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch, and every start puts wear on the igniter and the flame sensor. Those are usually the first parts to fail, and when they do, the furnace either won't light or shuts off soon after it does.
Most homes here heat with electricity, and the power does not always stay on. The area has seen 13 winter storms and 87 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and across Kentucky almost a quarter of households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024. When the power drops on a cold night, a furnace that was already struggling can come back running rough, or not come back at all.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 27°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 13 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 is the body that tests contractors and keeps that record. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job, so it doesn't get reissued each time a furnace gets fixed. When a license is active, it means that department has tested that contractor and has them on file.
A furnace burns gas, and a loose or wrong connection is the dangerous part of the job. In Kentucky, the license is what ties the person making that connection to a record the state keeps and can check.
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 sending power to the furnace, or the furnace isn't getting power itself. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check the breaker for the furnace and the switch that looks like a light switch near the unit, often mounted on or near it. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed, or a safety switch has shut the furnace down because of a clogged filter or a blocked vent. A furnace won't run if it senses an unsafe condition, so that shutoff is doing its job even though it means no heat right now.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If the air coming out is cold rather than just cool, the burners likely aren't lighting even though the blower is running. That points to the igniter, the flame sensor, or the gas valve not opening. It can also happen in the first minute after the furnace starts, before the heat exchanger warms up, which is normal. If the fan runs continuously and never warms up, or the thermostat fan setting is stuck on, that will also feel like cold air blowing with no heat behind it.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit almost always comes down to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it wears out or sits out of position, the gas valve shuts off the pilot as a safety measure. A draft blowing across the pilot flame, or a dirty pilot orifice, can also put it out. This is a furnace with a standing pilot, which means it doesn't rely on electricity to stay lit, so a power outage isn't the cause. A contractor can tell whether the thermocouple needs replacing or the pilot assembly needs cleaning once they've looked at it.