Furnace Repair in Ruidoso, NM
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lincoln County will get in touch.
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Seven months of heat, on nights that drop to 24 degrees
Your furnace works from October through April here, and on winter nights that average 24°F it runs long and often to keep up. That kind of steady demand wears on the igniter and the burner over a season, and when one of them fails, the furnace either won't start or won't stay lit.
Most homes in the area heat with gas, but a gas furnace still needs power to run its blower and controls. Lincoln County has seen 30 winter storms and 138 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and an outage that follows one can leave a furnace needing a reset or a repair before it will run again.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 62%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 30 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 Lincoln County home.
Estimates for a typical Lincoln 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 contractors before issuing that license, and the license covers the contractor, not each job. That means the record is tied to the person doing the work, not to this one visit.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the work here. A gas furnace depends on a sound connection at the gas line, and in Lincoln County, where 62.4% of homes heat with gas, that connection is the part a licensed contractor is on record for getting right.
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 batteries aren't dead. Next check the breaker and the furnace's own power switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed, and it won't glow or spark to light the burners. At 24°F on a winter night here, this isn't something to leave for later. A licensed contractor can test the igniter and the other safety switches to find out which one is stopping the furnace from starting.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- The furnace is likely running the blower without the burners lit. This happens when the flame sensor can't detect a flame, when the gas valve isn't opening, or when a safety switch has shut the burners down as a precaution. The blower keeps moving air through the ducts either way, so you feel air but not heat. A dirty filter can also make the furnace overheat and shut the burners off while the fan keeps running. Check the filter first. If it's clean, the problem is inside the furnace and needs a contractor to diagnose.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit usually means the thermocouple has failed or the pilot tube is partly clogged. The thermocouple is a small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve the flame is burning. When it wears out or sits out of position, the valve shuts the gas off as soon as you let go of the pilot button. A draft pulling on the flame can also blow it out repeatedly. Since 62.4% of homes in Lincoln County heat with gas, this is a common call here, and a licensed contractor can replace the thermocouple or clean the pilot assembly.