Furnace Repair in Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Wood County will get in touch.
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It takes about a minute.
Nine months of heat, ten degrees below freezing
Your furnace runs from September through May here. Winter nights average 10°F from December through February, and on those nights the burner is cycling on and off most of the night to keep up. That kind of use wears on the igniter and the flame sensor, the parts that start each cycle and confirm the flame caught.
Wood County has seen 25 winter storms and 47 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and last year 18% of Wisconsin households lost power for at least 24 hours. A furnace that loses power mid-cycle will come back on by itself, but if the igniter was already close to worn out, it can fail to relight. You will notice it as a house that will not warm up, or a furnace that clicks and tries but never catches.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 10°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 63%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 25 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $120 a year off heating for a typical Wood County home.
Estimates for a typical Wood County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the Department of Safety and Professional Services. It doesn't mean anyone tested the contractor's work. No state exam stands behind the listing, and no county or city in Wisconsin can require its own HVAC license on top of it, so the registration is the only state-level record that exists here.
On a furnace repair, the part that matters most is the gas connection, since that's where a mistake turns dangerous. With most homes in Wood County heating with gas, that's the piece of the job worth understanding, and Wisconsin's registration doesn't test for it. Wisconsin's rule stops at keeping the business on record.
Sources: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the power to the unit before you assume the worst. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and a few degrees above room temperature, and check the furnace switch, the breaker, and the filter, since a clogged filter can cause the system to shut itself off. If the pilot or igniter isn't lighting, or the furnace runs through a cycle and stops, that points to something a contractor needs to look at, like a bad flame sensor or a failed igniter. With winter nights here averaging 10°F, it's worth getting this looked at quickly rather than waiting.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often this means the blower is running before the burners have lit, or the burners haven't lit at all. Give it a few minutes, since some cold air at the start of a cycle is normal while the heat exchanger warms up. If it keeps blowing cold the whole time it runs, check the thermostat fan setting is on auto, not on, since a fan set to run constantly will push cold air between heating cycles. A furnace that won't light at all, or shuts off partway through, needs a contractor to find out why.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple has worn out and isn't holding the gas valve open once you let go of it. It can also mean a draft is blowing the flame out, or the pilot orifice is partly blocked. A thermocouple is inexpensive to replace and a contractor can swap it in on the same visit. Don't keep relighting it over and over. If it won't hold after a couple of tries, that's the signal to get someone out to look at it.