Furnace Repair in Grand Forks, ND
Furnaces here run from September through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Grand Forks County will get in touch.
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Nine months of heat puts a lot of hours on your furnace
Grand Forks County needs a working furnace from September through May. That is nine months of the year, and on the coldest nights it is running against a low near 2°F. A furnace working that hard, that often, wears on the parts that start it and keep it running. The igniter and the flame sensor take the brunt of it, since every cycle asks them to work again.
Winter here also brings storms that can knock out power. The county has seen 81 winter storms and 188 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and statewide, 7% of households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024. When the power drops on a night that cold, the furnace stops with it, and most furnaces start back up on their own once power returns. If yours does not, or if it was already struggling before the outage, that is worth a look.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 2°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 81 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
North Dakota requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state licenses HVAC contractors through the Secretary of State, and that license covers the contractor, not each job. It tells you the contractor holds standing with the state, not that this particular repair was signed off on.
That license is what stands behind a furnace repair priced at $4,000 or more. Below that amount, North Dakota does not require the person doing the work to be licensed at all. A furnace repair involves a gas connection, and a bad connection is the dangerous part of the job, so on smaller repairs the license is not what is standing between you and the work.
Sources: North Dakota Legislative Branch · North Dakota Secretary of State
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, and check the batteries if it uses them. If the thermostat looks right, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will shut the furnace down completely. Furnaces also have a switch that looks like a light switch, often near the unit or at the top of the basement stairs, and it needs to be in the on position. If none of that brings it back, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may have failed, and that calls for a contractor to open it up and test the parts.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit. A dirty flame sensor is a common cause, since it can't tell the burners are lit and shuts the gas off as a safety measure. A clogged filter can also cause this by starving the burners of air, or by tripping a high limit switch that cuts the burners but leaves the blower running. Check the filter first, since that's the one thing worth trying before calling someone. If the filter is clean and you're still getting cold air, the flame sensor or the ignition system needs a contractor's attention, and with your winter lows near 2°F this isn't one to sit on.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit is usually the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is burning. When it wears out or sits slightly out of position, the valve reads no flame and shuts the gas off even though the pilot lit fine a moment before. A draft blowing across the pilot can cause the same thing, so check for airflow near the unit first. If relighting it doesn't hold, the thermocouple needs to be adjusted or replaced, and that's a job for a licensed contractor since it involves the gas valve.