Furnace Repair in Yakima, WA
Furnaces here run from September through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Yakima County will get in touch.
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Ten months of heat wears a furnace down fast
Yakima County only gets a break from heat two months out of the year. From September through June, your furnace cycles on and off night after night, and on winter nights averaging 24°F it runs longest and hardest. Each cycle puts a load on the igniter and the blower motor, and over ten months that adds up faster than it would somewhere milder.
Most homes here heat with electricity, so when the power goes out, the furnace stops with it. This area has logged 62 winter storms and 21 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and across Washington almost a quarter of households lost power for a full day or more in 2024. When the power comes back on, some furnaces need to be reset before they will fire again.
- 10 months
- September through June, your furnace is on duty
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 62 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Washington requires contractors to register with the state.
Washington's registration puts the business on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. It is not a trade exam and there is no license number tied to a technician's skill with furnaces or gas lines, just a record that the business is registered.
For a furnace repair, that means the registration is not what stands behind the gas connection itself. It tells you the business is on file with the state, and nothing more than that.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way you think it is, or the furnace isn't getting power. Check that the thermostat is set below room temperature and has fresh batteries if it uses them. Next check the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit, and the breaker at your panel. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed or the pressure switch may be stuck, and a contractor will need to open the furnace to find out which.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it's not warm, the furnace may be running its fan without the burners lighting. That points to an ignition problem, a dirty flame sensor, or a gas supply issue. It can also mean the thermostat fan setting is on instead of auto, which runs the blower even when the furnace isn't heating. With nights here averaging 24°F, this isn't something to leave for long. If the thermostat setting checks out, a contractor will need to look at the burner assembly.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit usually means the thermocouple has worn out. That's the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is actually burning, and once it fails the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure. A draft blowing out the flame or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. A standing pilot doesn't need power to stay lit, so this isn't related to any power issue in the house. A contractor can test the thermocouple and replace it if it's the cause.