Furnace Repair in Colville, WA
Furnaces here run from September through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Stevens County will get in touch.
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Colville asks a lot of a furnace, most of the year
Your furnace runs from September through June here, ten months of the year with barely a break. On the coldest nights it is holding the house against a 21°F average low, and the burner cycles on and off through the night to keep up. Every cycle puts wear on the igniter and the parts that start the flame.
This area has seen 319 winter storms and 31 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms here can take the power out for a while. Across Washington, close to a quarter of households lost power for at least 24 hours in 2024. Most furnaces come back on by themselves once power returns, but if a part was already worn down, that restart is often when it finally gives out.
- 10 months
- September through June, your furnace is on duty
- 21°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 319 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Washington requires contractors to register with the state.
Registration puts the business on file with the Department of Labor and Industries, along with proof of a bond and insurance. Nobody at the state tests whether the contractor can actually work on a furnace. It is a record that the business exists and is covered, not a check on the work itself.
For a furnace repair, the part that matters is the gas connection, and registration does not touch that. There is no trade exam behind the registration, so it does not stand in for a check on the gas work itself. What protects a homeowner here is the same bond and insurance that come with the registration, not a judgment on whether the repair was done right.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most of the time the thermostat isn't calling for heat, or power to the furnace has been cut off somewhere. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature. Check the furnace switch, usually a light switch near the unit, and the breaker for it too. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed or the flame sensor may be dirty, and a contractor will need to check it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it's not warm, the burners likely aren't lighting even though the blower is running. A dirty flame sensor or a bad igniter will do this. It can also mean the furnace is in the middle of its startup cycle, when the blower runs briefly before the burners fire. If the air stays cold, turn the furnace off and have it looked at, since running it this way just wastes electricity.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit usually points to a bad thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. If it's worn out or out of position, it shuts the gas off even with the flame present. Drafts near the pilot or a clogged pilot orifice can also cause this. A thermocouple is a simple part, but a contractor should replace it since it sits right at the gas line.