Furnace Repair in Oak Ridge, TN
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Anderson County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of heat puts real wear on your furnace
Oak Ridge homes need heat from October through April, seven months of the year. On winter nights averaging 30°F, your furnace is cycling on and off for hours at a stretch, and every start puts a load on the igniter and the parts that get the burner going. Over enough winters that wear catches up, and the furnace either won't light or won't stay lit.
56.6% of homes here heat with electricity, so a furnace tied to the power grid is only as reliable as the power itself. Ten years of records show 6 winter storms and 42 damaging wind events in this area, and in 2024, 20% of Tennessee households went at least 24 hours without power. When the power drops on a cold night, the furnace stops with it, and it won't start again on its own until the power does.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 30°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 6 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way you think it is, or power isn't reaching the furnace. Check the breaker first, then make sure the thermostat is set below room temperature and has fresh batteries if it uses them. A closed switch on the furnace itself, sometimes mounted like a light switch nearby, will also stop it cold. If power and settings check out, the igniter or a safety switch inside the unit may be at fault, and that's a job for a contractor to open up and test.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Cold air at the start is normal. The blower often kicks on before the burners have warmed the heat exchanger, so you'll feel a few seconds of cool air before it turns warm. If the air stays cold the whole time it's running, the burners likely aren't lighting at all, which points to the igniter, the flame sensor, or the gas supply. A dirty filter can also choke airflow enough that what's coming out feels cooler than it should. With winter lows here averaging 30°F, a furnace that's only blowing cold air needs attention the same day.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple isn't sensing the flame correctly and is shutting the gas valve as a safety measure. It can also happen if there's a draft near the pilot, or if the pilot orifice is partly clogged and burning weak. Try relighting it following the instructions on the furnace, and watch whether the flame is a steady blue or thin and yellow. If it won't hold or the flame looks wrong, that's a sign the thermocouple needs adjusting or replacing, which a contractor should handle since it involves the gas line.