Furnace Repair in Chapel Hill, NC
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Orange County will get in touch.
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Seven months of nights averaging 31°F wear on a furnace
Chapel Hill needs heat from October through April, seven months of the burner lighting and shutting off night after night. Winter lows average 31°F from December through February, and every one of those starts puts load on the igniter and the parts that get the burner lit. Over a season that adds up, and it shows up as a furnace that takes longer to catch or stops catching at all.
Most homes here heat with electricity, and the power does not always hold. A quarter of North Carolina households went at least 24 hours without it in 2024, and the area has logged 8 winter storms and 121 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A furnace that will not restart once power comes back, or one that was already struggling before the outage, leaves a house cold fast on a night like that.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 31°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 8 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
North Carolina requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
North Carolina licenses HVAC contractors through the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job, so the same license covers the furnace repair as would cover any other heating work that contractor takes on.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the work. Furnace repair often means working on the gas line and the burner assembly, and the contractor doing that work is the one the state has licensed.
Sources: North Carolina General Assembly · North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't sending power to the furnace, or the furnace is getting power but failing to start a burn cycle. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the batteries are good, and check the breaker and the furnace's own power switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit. If those are fine, the igniter, the flame sensor, or a safety switch inside the furnace may be stopping it from starting, and that needs a contractor to test. With winter lows here averaging 31°F, a furnace that won't start is worth calling in the same day.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it's not warm, the furnace may be running the blower without a burn cycle going, or the burners may be failing to light. A dirty flame sensor, a closed gas valve, or an ignition problem can all cause this. It can also mean the furnace is in the middle of its startup sequence, since some models blow briefly before the burners light. If the air stays cold after a few minutes, the furnace needs a contractor to look at the ignition system.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit usually means the thermocouple isn't sensing the flame correctly, so the gas valve shuts it off as a safety measure. It can also mean a draft is blowing the pilot out, or the pilot tube itself is clogged. Relighting it yourself is fine to try once, following the instructions on the furnace, but if it goes out again the part needs to be replaced or cleaned by a contractor. This is one repair worth getting done before a cold stretch, since homes here need heat from October through April.