Furnace repair that gets the heat back on, and keeps it on

A furnace that quits in a Minnesota January is an emergency, and we treat it like one. The on-call technician answers at any hour, arrives with the common failure parts on the truck, and shows you exactly what went wrong before quoting the fix.

(952) 555-0199 Estimates are free. Call now.

Why furnaces fail in Minnesota

A Twin Cities furnace runs harder and longer than almost any in the country, cycling thousands of times between October and April. The parts that wear out are predictable: hot-surface igniters crack, flame sensors build up a film that makes the control board think there is no flame, pressure switches stick, and the inducer and blower motors eventually wear their bearings. High-efficiency furnaces add another failure point, the condensate drain, which can freeze or clog and shut the furnace down on a safety.

One Minnesota-specific problem we see every winter is a blocked intake or exhaust. The PVC pipes on a high-efficiency furnace terminate through an outside wall, and a heavy snowfall or a drift can cover them. The furnace senses the restriction and locks out. Clearing the pipes often fixes it, but a repeated lockout means the terminations should be raised or rerouted.

How a repair call goes

The technician starts by asking what you noticed, then checks the thermostat, the filter, the venting and the error code on the control board before touching anything else. From there it is a methodical test of the ignition sequence with a meter and, when combustion is involved, a combustion analyzer. You see the failed part and the reading that proves it. The price for the repair is written down before the work starts, and most repairs are finished on that visit from parts stocked on the truck.

If a heat exchanger is suspected, the technician inspects it with a camera and tests for carbon monoxide. A cracked exchanger is the one furnace failure where we will tell you not to run the furnace, because it can push exhaust gases into the house.

Repairs on older furnaces

Plenty of Bloomington and Richfield ramblers still run furnaces from the 1990s or earlier, and many are worth keeping alive another few winters. We carry parts for older units and are honest about the point where a repair stops making sense. If we recommend replacement, it comes with the reasoning and the photos, not pressure.

After the repair

Every repair carries a two-year labor warranty. If the same part fails inside that window because of our work, the return trip is free. We also leave a note on the furnace with the date, the repair and the technician’s name, so the next person who opens the panel knows the history.

Furnace Repair questions we hear a lot

How fast can you get here when the furnace is out?

During a normal cold snap, most no-heat calls are reached within a few hours. During an extreme cold event when half the metro is calling at once, we dispatch by severity, so a household with no heat and young children or an elderly resident goes first. Either way, you talk to a person when you call, and we tell you honestly when to expect the truck.

Should I repair this furnace or replace it?

If the furnace is under 15 years old and the failure is a single component, repair is nearly always the right answer. If it is older, has a cracked heat exchanger, or needs its third major repair in a few winters, replacement is usually the better use of the money. We give you both numbers and tell you which we would choose for our own house.

What should I check before I call?

Make sure the thermostat is set to heat and calling for a temperature above the room. Check that the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit, is on. Check the breaker. Replace a clogged filter. Look outside at the intake and exhaust pipes for snow or ice blocking them, which is a common cause of shutdowns during a storm. If none of that helps, call us.