Furnace Repair in Truth or Consequences, NM
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Sierra County will get in touch.
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It takes about a minute.
Seven months of heat, on nights near freezing
Truth or Consequences needs the furnace running from October through April. That's seven months of the year, most of it with winter nights averaging 27°F. A furnace that runs that much cycles on and off many times a day, and every cycle puts a little more wear on the igniter and the burner.
About half the homes here heat with gas, and that furnace has to work through wind as much as cold. Sierra County has logged 32 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and wind like that can snuff a pilot light or blow out a vent, which shows up as a furnace that won't stay lit.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 27°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 4 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $50 a year off heating for a typical Sierra County home.
Estimates for a typical Sierra 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 license comes from the Construction Industries Division, and it covers the contractor, not each job. The state has tested that contractor and licensed them to do this kind of work, so the same license applies to your furnace repair as to any other job they take on.
A gas furnace repair comes down to the gas connection, and that is the part that matters most. In New Mexico, that work falls under the contractor's CID license. Almost half the homes in Sierra County heat with gas.
Source: New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often it's the thermostat not calling for heat, a tripped breaker, or the furnace switch got bumped off. Check the thermostat is set below room temperature and set to heat, not just fan. If it's a gas furnace, the igniter can fail after years of use, and that will stop it from starting even when everything else looks fine. A closed gas valve or a full condensate pan on newer high-efficiency units will also shut it down as a safety measure.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it isn't warm, the burners likely aren't lighting even though the blower is running. That points to a bad igniter, a dirty flame sensor, or gas not reaching the burners. It can also mean the furnace is stuck in fan-only mode at the thermostat. Either way, the blower running without heat behind it is a sign something upstream of it has failed.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit is usually a worn thermocouple, the sensor that tells the gas valve the flame is present. When it wears out, it reads no flame even when one is there and shuts the gas back off. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. This is a common repair on older furnaces still running a standing pilot rather than electronic ignition.