Furnace Repair in Kennewick, WA
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Benton County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts real wear on your furnace
Kennewick homes need heat from October through May. That's eight months of your furnace cycling on through winter nights that average 28°F. Most homes here heat with electricity, so when the power drops, the heat drops with it.
Benton County has seen 14 winter storms and 25 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Washington households went without power for a full day or more at a high rate last year alone. When the power comes back, your furnace should start up on its own, but a system already strained by a long heating season doesn't always come back the way it should. If yours is short-cycling, blowing cold air, or not starting at all, that's the wear catching up with it.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 28°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 14 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. It asks for a bond and insurance on record, not a test of what the contractor knows about furnaces or gas lines. There's no trade exam behind the number, so the registration tells you the business exists and can be found again, not that anyone checked its work.
On a furnace repair, the gas connection is the part that matters most, and registration does not touch it. Washington's registration covers the business, not the person doing the work or the job itself. Nobody checks that specific connection under this rule.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat, or the furnace isn't getting power. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature. Furnaces run on electricity even when the fuel is gas, so a tripped breaker or a blown fuse on the control board will stop it cold. If the filter is packed with dust, some furnaces will shut down rather than run, since a blocked filter chokes airflow across the heat exchanger. With winter lows here averaging 28°F, a furnace that won't start is worth getting looked at the same day.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it's cold, the burners likely aren't lighting even though the blower is running. A dirty flame sensor, a failed igniter, or a closed gas valve can all keep the burners from firing while the fan still pushes air through the ducts. It can also mean the thermostat fan is set to "on" instead of "auto", which runs the blower nonstop whether or not the furnace is heating. Either way, a contractor needs to check the burner assembly and controls to find which part failed.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit usually points to a weak or dirty thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is burning. If it's coated in soot or has drifted out of position, it reads the flame as out and shuts the gas off even while the pilot is lit. A draft in the area of the pilot can also blow it out, so check that vents or nearby doors aren't pushing air across it. A standing pilot doesn't use electricity, so a power outage isn't the cause. If relighting it doesn't hold, the thermocouple or gas valve needs a contractor's attention.