Furnace Repair in Los Lunas, NM
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Valencia County will get in touch.
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Seven months of heat, and cold nights to push it
Your furnace works from October through April in Los Lunas. That is seven months a year it has to start up, run, and shut off, night after night. Winter lows here average 23°F, so on the coldest nights the burner is cycling on and off for hours to keep up.
Every one of those starts puts a small load on the igniter. Do that thousands of times over a winter and an igniter that is already weak can fail outright, usually on one of the colder nights when the furnace is working hardest. Most homes in this area heat with gas, so when the igniter goes, there is no backup heat kicking in. The blower may still run, but no warm air comes out of the vents.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 23°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 68%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 59 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $60 a year off heating for a typical Valencia County home.
Estimates for a typical Valencia County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, New Mexico 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.
New Mexico requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
New Mexico's Construction Industries Division tests and licenses HVAC contractors before they take on work like this. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so it covers them from one furnace repair to the next rather than being issued fresh each time.
That license is what stands behind the person working on your furnace. A bad connection on a gas furnace is the part of the job that can hurt someone, and the state has already tested this contractor on that kind of work before they ever touch yours. In Valencia County, where 67.6% of homes heat with gas, that testing covers the exact repair a gas furnace calls for.
Source: New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often it's the thermostat, the power supply, or the igniter. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room level, and check the breaker for the furnace. If those are fine, the igniter or the flame sensor may have failed, and a furnace won't run without either one working. With winter nights here averaging 23°F, this isn't something to leave for long, and a licensed contractor can find which part it is.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Usually the furnace is running the blower but hasn't ignited the gas yet, or the ignition has failed partway through the cycle. It can also mean the flame sensor is dirty and shutting the burner off right after it lights. A clogged filter can cause the same thing by making the furnace overheat and shut down its burner while the fan keeps blowing. A contractor can tell which of these it is once they're at the furnace.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually points to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it wears out or sits out of place, the gas valve reads no flame and shuts off, even with the pilot lit. A draft blowing out the flame or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. Since gas heats 67.6% of homes in Valencia County, this is a common call for a furnace repair contractor here, and it's a straightforward fix once they see the pilot assembly.