Furnace Repair in Clarksville, TN
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Montgomery County will get in touch.
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Seven months of heat puts real hours on your furnace
Clarksville needs heat from October through April. That is seven months a year the burner is cycling on and off to keep up with winter nights that average 30°F. Every one of those cycles asks the igniter to light the burner again, and igniters wear out from the repeated firing more than from age.
Most homes here heat with electricity, and Tennessee saw a fifth of households lose power for at least a day in 2024. Montgomery County has logged 13 winter storms and 103 damaging wind events over the past ten years. When the power drops on a cold night, the furnace stops with it, and it will not start back up until the power does.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 30°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 13 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- The most common reason is 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. Next check the breaker and the furnace's own power switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit. If those are fine, a safety switch may have shut the furnace down, and a contractor will need to find out why.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Air blows before the burners light, so a few seconds of cool air at startup is normal. If it keeps blowing cold, the igniter may be failing to light the burners, or the flame sensor may be shutting the burners off right after they light. A dirty filter can also starve the burners of airflow and trip a safety switch. Either way the blower keeps running while the heat itself isn't working, so a contractor should check it before the next cold night, especially with lows near 30°F this winter.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A weak or dirty thermocouple is the usual cause, since its job is to sense the pilot flame and keep the gas valve open. A draft blowing across the pilot, or a clogged pilot orifice, can also blow it out repeatedly. If it relights and goes out again within a minute or two, the thermocouple is the most likely culprit and a contractor can test or replace it. This part doesn't need power, so a power outage won't affect it, but a bad thermocouple will.