Furnace Repair in Providence, RI
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Providence County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts real wear on a Providence furnace
Your furnace works from October through May here, eight months of the year. On winter nights that average 22°F, it is not idling. It is cycling on and off for hours at a time to hold the house at temperature, and every one of those cycles puts a load on the igniter and the heat exchanger.
Most homes in Providence County heat with gas, so it is the burner assembly and ignition system doing that work night after night. When one of those parts wears down, you notice it as short cycling, a furnace that runs but never quite gets the house warm, or one that will not light at all on the coldest nights, which is exactly when you need it most.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 22°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 61%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 49 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $280 a year off heating for a typical Providence County home.
Estimates for a typical Providence County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Rhode Island fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when one part has failed and the heat exchanger is sound.
Replacement makes sense when the heat exchanger is cracked or the furnace keeps needing parts.
Rhode Island requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license is issued by the Department of Labor and Training, and it belongs to the contractor, not to any single job. It does not get reissued for each furnace repair. It applies to the person or business doing the work, on this job and the next one.
Most homes in Providence County, 60.9%, heat with gas, and a loose or wrong connection on a furnace is the dangerous part of the job. In Rhode Island, the license is what stands behind the person making that connection.
Source: Rhode Island General Assembly
- 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 above room temperature and has working batteries if it uses them. Next check the furnace switch, the one that looks like a light switch near the unit, and the breaker at your panel. If those are all fine, a safety switch inside the furnace may be holding it off, and that calls for a contractor to check it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it's cold, the furnace usually isn't igniting even though the blower is running. A dirty flame sensor or a failed igniter can stop the burners from lighting while the fan keeps going on schedule. It can also mean the thermostat fan setting is on rather than auto, which just circulates room air with no heat behind it. A contractor can tell which one it is by watching the furnace run through a cycle.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple has worn out. That's the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to stay open. Once it wears out it can't hold that signal, so the valve shuts the gas off and the pilot goes out. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing, so a contractor needs to look at it to know which one it is.