Furnace Repair in Wheeling, WV
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Ohio County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat, and nights that drop to 24°F
Wheeling homes need the furnace on from October through May. That is most of the year, and on winter nights that average 24°F, the furnace is running long hours to keep up. All that runtime means more cycles, and every cycle puts wear on the igniter and the burner.
Most homes here heat with gas, so when the furnace stops, there is no backup pulling the load. Ohio County has seen 6 winter storms and 69 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and across West Virginia over a third of households lost power for a day or more in 2024. When the power drops mid-winter, the furnace stops with it, and it will not start back up on its own once the power is back unless something is checked first.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 65%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 6 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $190 a year off heating for a typical Ohio County home.
Estimates for a typical Ohio 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.
The license belongs to the contractor, not to the job site, so the same license covers this furnace repair and the next one they do across the state. West Virginia's Commissioner of Labor is the body that issues it, and the contractor has to hold that license to do this work anywhere in the state.
For a gas furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the work being done. Opening up a gas connection and closing it again is the part of the job that has to be done right, and in Ohio County, where most homes heat with gas, that is exactly the kind of work this license covers.
Source: West Virginia Legislature
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most of the time it's the thermostat, the power supply, or the igniter. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the batteries are good, then check the breaker and the furnace's own power switch, which is often mistaken for a light switch and left off. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed, and that's a part a contractor has to replace. With 8 months of the year needing heat here, it's worth having a contractor check it soon rather than wait.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it's not warm, the furnace may be running the blower without the burners lighting. That points to an ignition problem, a dirty flame sensor, or the gas supply being interrupted. It can also mean the thermostat fan is set to on instead of auto, which just circulates air between heating cycles. A contractor can tell which one it is by watching the furnace run through a full cycle.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple has worn out and stopped sensing that the pilot is lit, so the gas valve shuts it off. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can also cause it. Since a standing pilot doesn't use electricity, this isn't a power problem, and it needs a contractor to replace the thermocouple or clean the assembly.