Furnace Repair in Waukegan, IL
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lake County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat, nights near 19 degrees
Your furnace works from October through May here, eight months of the year. On winter nights averaging 19°F, it runs long and often to hold the house at temperature, and the burner is cycling on and off most of the day.
All that starting and stopping wears on the igniter first. When it goes, the burner won't light at all and the house goes cold. Lake County also sees its share of winter storms and wind, and a power blip in the middle of a cold night can be enough to stop a furnace that was already running on a weak part.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 19°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 83%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 20 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $150 a year off heating for a typical Lake County home.
Estimates for a typical Lake 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 leaves this to the local building department, so what applies to a furnace repair depends on the town, not the state. Some places require the contractor to hold a local license, some leave it alone entirely. There's no state list to check and no state exam behind any of it. Whatever record exists, if any, is wherever the house sits.
Most homes in Lake County heat with gas, and the part of a furnace repair that matters most is the gas connection itself. Where a town licenses HVAC contractors, that license is what stands behind the work. Where a town has no such rule, nothing at the state or local level is checking who does this job.
Source: Illinois General Assembly
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Make sure it is set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, since a setting knocked a few degrees off will stop the furnace from firing. Check the power switch on or near the furnace, usually a light switch on the wall nearby, and check the breaker too. If those are fine, the igniter or flame sensor may have failed, or the furnace may be locked out from a safety switch, and a contractor will need to look at it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the furnace is running the fan without the burners lit. That happens when the thermostat fan setting is on instead of auto, so check that first. If the fan is set right and you still get cold air, the igniter may not be lighting the burners, or the furnace could be overheating and shutting the burners off while the fan keeps running. A dirty filter can cause that kind of overheating, so check it before calling anyone.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually comes down to the thermocouple, the small part that senses the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to stay open. When it wears out or sits out of position, it reads the flame as out even when it isn't, and shuts the gas off. A draft blowing the flame around can also cause it, so check for anything pulling air near the pilot. If the flame relights and goes out again the same way each time, the thermocouple is the likely cause and a contractor can replace it.