Furnace Repair in Williston, ND
Furnaces here run from September through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Williams County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ten months of heat, and nights near 4 below
Your furnace works nearly the whole year here. September through June, ten months, it has to be ready to run. On winter nights that average 4°F, it runs long and it runs often, cycling on and off to hold the house warm.
That much runtime adds up on the parts that start the burner and move the heat. An igniter that has fired thousands of times can crack or weaken and stop lighting the burner at all. A blower motor under steady load can wear out its bearings. When the power goes out, and it did for at least a day in 2024 for 7% of North Dakota households, the furnace won't run even if nothing inside it is broken. You will notice a furnace in trouble as a house that won't hold its temperature, a burner that won't light, or a blower that runs but never enough to keep up with 4 below outside.
- 10 months
- September through June, your furnace is on duty
- 4°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 23 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.
North Dakota licenses HVAC contractors through the Secretary of State. The license covers the contractor, not each job, so it stands behind the work no matter which furnace repair a licensed contractor is called out for.
For this repair, that license is what stands between you and the work being done. There is one exception. Work under $4,000 does not need a licensed contractor, and a furnace repair can fall on either side of that line depending on what it involves.
Sources: North Dakota Legislative Branch · North Dakota Secretary of State
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most likely it isn't getting power, gas, or the signal to start. Check the thermostat first, since a dead battery or a setting knocked to cold will stop the furnace before it ever tries to light. If the thermostat looks right, check the breaker and the furnace's own power switch, which is often mounted on the side of the unit and looks like a light switch. A closed gas valve or a filter packed with dust can also stop it cold, since the furnace will shut itself down rather than run without airflow. If none of that gets it going, the igniter or the control board may have failed, and that's a job for a licensed contractor to diagnose.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- In most cases the furnace hasn't actually started heating yet. When it first kicks on, it runs the blower for a short stretch before the burners fire, so a little cool air at the start is normal. If cold air keeps coming the whole cycle, check the thermostat fan setting. Set to "on," the blower runs constantly, even between heating cycles, which feels like cold air blowing when the furnace isn't actively burning gas. Set it to "auto" instead so the blower only runs when the furnace is actually producing heat. If it's set to auto and you're still getting cold air, the igniter, flame sensor, or gas valve may be failing partway through the cycle, and that needs a contractor to look at, especially with winter lows here averaging 4°F.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit almost always means a bad thermocouple or a draft problem, not the pilot itself. The thermocouple is a small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve the flame is lit. Once it wears out or gets coated in soot, it stops sensing the flame correctly and shuts the gas off even though the pilot is burning fine. Drafts from a nearby door or a blocked vent can also blow the flame out directly. If relighting it doesn't hold for more than a few minutes, the thermocouple needs replacing, which is a repair for a licensed contractor rather than something to keep retrying.