Furnace Repair in Decatur, IL
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Macon County will get in touch.
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Seven months of Decatur winter wears on a furnace
From October through April, your furnace is what stands between you and a 22 degree night. That is seven months of the burner lighting and shutting off, night after night. Each cycle puts a little more wear on the igniter and the parts that control the flame.
Most homes here heat with gas, so when the power goes out, the furnace stops with it. Macon County has recorded 10 winter storms and 109 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A furnace that is already struggling some nights may not start back up on its own once the power does.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 22°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 74%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 10 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 Macon County home.
Estimates for a typical Macon County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Illinois 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.
In Illinois, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the cities and towns.
Illinois has no state HVAC license. Whether your furnace repair needs a local license depends on the town, since Illinois leaves that decision to cities and towns rather than setting one rule statewide.
What protects you on a furnace repair is the gas connection itself, not a license number. A furnace burns gas and vents combustion outside, and a bad connection or a bad vent is the dangerous part of that work. In Macon County, 73.5% of homes heat with gas, so that connection is part of most furnace jobs here, not a rare case.
Source: Illinois General Assembly
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the set temperature is above room temperature, and make sure it has power if it runs on batteries. If that's fine, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will stop the furnace cold. Furnaces also won't start if the air filter is badly clogged or if a safety switch on the unit has tripped, and those need a contractor to sort out.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the furnace is running the blower without the burners lit yet, which is normal for the first minute after a cycle starts. If cold air keeps blowing well past that, check your air filter, since a filter packed with dust can choke airflow and confuse the system. A furnace that blows only cold air, and never warms up, usually points to an ignition problem or a gas supply issue, and that calls for a contractor before you're stuck with 22°F nights and no heat.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning, has worn out or is out of position. A draft blowing across the pilot can also snuff it out, so check that the area around it isn't exposed to a vent or gap. If you relight it and it goes out again within a minute or two, the thermocouple is the likely cause and a contractor can replace it.