Furnace Repair in Amherst Town, MA
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Hampshire County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat, and nights near 18 degrees
Amherst homes need the furnace on from October through May. That is eight months of a burner cycling on and off, and on the coldest nights, when it is holding the house against a low near 18°F, it runs longer and starts more often to keep up. Every start puts load on the igniter and the flame sensor, and those are usually the first parts to fail.
The county has also logged 53 winter storms and 218 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind like that can push cold air into the flue and affect how the furnace drafts. And when the power goes out, as it did for 10% of Massachusetts households for at least a day in 2024, the furnace will not run at all, even with gas to burn, because the blower and controls need electricity.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 18°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 53 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check that the batteries aren't dead. If the thermostat looks right, check the furnace switch, which looks like a regular light switch near the unit, and check the breaker panel. A furnace that still won't start after that is likely stopping on a safety switch, and a contractor needs to find out why.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the furnace is running the blower but the burners haven't lit. Check your air filter first. A filter clogged with dust chokes airflow and can cause the furnace to shut burners off while the fan keeps running. If the filter is clean and you're still getting cold air, the igniter or a safety switch is probably keeping the burners from firing, and that calls for a contractor to look at it. With winter lows here averaging 18°F, a furnace stuck blowing cold air needs attention fast.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit is almost always a worn thermocouple. That's the small sensor that sits in the flame and tells the gas valve the pilot is actually burning. When it wears out, it reads the flame as out even when it's lit, so the gas valve shuts down. It's an inexpensive part but has to be replaced by a contractor, not adjusted.