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Furnace Repair in Gypsum, CO

Furnaces here run from August through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Eagle County will get in touch.

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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
A gray forced-air furnace with metal ductwork stands in an unfinished basement with exposed wooden joists, concrete walls, and a single hanging light bulb.

Eleven months of heat puts a lot of hours on a furnace

In Gypsum, your furnace runs from August through June. That is eleven months of the year. On winter nights averaging 11°F, the burner has to cycle on and off for hours at a stretch to keep the house warm. Each cycle puts wear on the igniter and the burner assembly, and over enough winters those parts fail.

Most homes here heat with gas, so a failed igniter or a dirty flame sensor means the furnace will not light, or it lights and then shuts off partway through the cycle. Power matters too. This area sees a lot of winter storms and wind, and a gas furnace still needs electricity to run its ignition and blower. When the power goes out, the furnace stops even though the gas is still on.

11 months
August through June, your furnace is on duty
11°F
the average winter night it heats against
63%
of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
130 winter storms
in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
Isometric cutaway illustration of a single-story house showing interior rooms, furniture, a dark furnace unit with a tall vertical flue pipe, and ductwork running under the pitched shingle roof.
Your furnace works hardest from October through April.

NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals

An unfinished concrete basement containing a gas furnace with sheet-metal ductwork, utility shelving, and exposed overhead joists.

A new furnace would cut about $140 a year off heating for a typical Eagle County home.

  • A new high-efficiency furnace$590 a year
  • An older furnace$730 a year

Estimates for a typical Eagle County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Colorado fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.

Repair makes sense when one part has failed and the heat exchanger is sound.

Replacement makes sense when the heat exchanger is cracked or the furnace keeps needing parts.

Why won't my furnace turn on?
Most of the time it's the thermostat, the power supply, or the igniter. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and above room temperature, and check the breaker for the furnace. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed, or a safety switch may be holding the furnace off because of a clogged filter or a blocked vent. A contractor can test the igniter and the safety switches to find out which one it is.
Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
This is usually the furnace working through its cycle, not a failure. Furnaces run a fan for a short time before the burners ignite, so a few seconds of cool air at startup is normal. If cold air keeps coming through the vents while the furnace runs, the igniter or flame sensor may be failing and the burners aren't lighting at all. With nights here averaging 11°F in winter, that's worth having a contractor look at quickly rather than waiting.
Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
The thermocouple is the most common cause. It sits in the pilot flame and signals the gas valve to stay open. When it wears out or sits out of position, it reads the flame wrong and shuts the gas off even though the pilot is lit. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can also cause this. A contractor can test the thermocouple and clean or adjust the pilot assembly to fix it.
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