Furnace Repair in Fairmont, WV
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Marion County will get in touch.
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Fairmont asks a lot of a furnace
From October through May your furnace is the thing standing between your house and a 24 degree night. That is eight months of the year it has to work. Every time the burner cycles on to hold the temperature, the igniter and the flame sensor take the wear. Over enough winters that wear catches up, and the furnace either won't light or won't stay lit.
West Virginia also sees its share of winter storms and wind, five winter storms and 57 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Most furnaces need electricity to run the blower and controls even though they burn gas, so when a storm knocks out power, the heat goes with it. Statewide, more than a third of households went at least a full day without power in 2024, and a furnace that cannot restart on its own once the power returns usually means a stuck limit switch or a control board that needs a look.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 68%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 5 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $180 a year off heating for a typical Marion County home.
Estimates for a typical Marion County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, West Virginia 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.
West Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
West Virginia licenses the contractor, not the job. The Commissioner of Labor tests and records the person or company before they ever take on a furnace repair, and that license stays with them from one job to the next.
A furnace repair means someone working around a gas line and a burner, and a bad connection there is the dangerous part of the job. In Marion County, 68.1% of homes heat with gas, so this is the ordinary furnace on this page, not the exception. The license is what stands behind whoever does that work here.
Source: West Virginia Legislature
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way it should, or power to the furnace has been cut off somewhere along the line. Check that the thermostat is set below room temperature and has fresh 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 fine, the igniter or flame sensor may have failed, and that's a job for a contractor to diagnose.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it's not warm, the furnace is likely running the blower without the burners lighting. That points to an ignition problem, a flame sensor that needs cleaning, or a safety switch that's shutting the burners off. It can also mean the thermostat fan is set to 'on' instead of 'auto', which pushes air through the ducts even between heating cycles. A contractor can tell you which one it is once they check the burners and the flame sensor.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit usually means the thermocouple has worn out and isn't sensing enough heat to keep the gas valve open. It can also mean a draft in the area is blowing the flame out, or the pilot orifice is partly clogged. With winter nights here averaging 24°F, a furnace that keeps losing its pilot needs attention soon rather than waiting it out. A contractor can test the thermocouple and replace it if that's the cause.