Furnace Repair in Burlington, NJ
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Burlington County will get in touch.
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Seven months of cold nights wear a furnace down
Burlington County needs heat from October through April, seven months of the burner lighting and shutting off to hold the house against winter nights that average 27°F. Most homes here run on gas, so that burner and the igniter that lights it are doing the work all winter long.
That many cycles adds up. An igniter weakens and stops lighting the burner on the first try, or stops lighting it at all. A flame sensor coated with buildup tells the furnace to shut down even when the burner is fine. You notice it as a furnace that clicks and does not catch, short cycles, or cold air coming through the vents when it should be running steady.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 27°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 70%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 31 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $140 a year off heating for a typical Burlington County home.
Estimates for a typical Burlington County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, New Jersey 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 Jersey requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license belongs to the contractor, not to this one repair, so the person who takes the job is the same one the state tested and put on record. New Jersey issues it through the State Board of Examiners of HVACR Contractors, and towns here cannot add a separate local license on top of it. So the license that matters in Burlington County is the same one that matters anywhere else in the state.
A furnace repair often means working on the gas line, and a bad connection there is the dangerous part of the job. That is the work this license is meant to stand behind. In Burlington County, 70.1% of homes heat with gas, so a furnace repair here is, more often than not, gas work.
Sources: New Jersey Legislature · New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the set temperature is above room temperature, and check the batteries if it uses them. If that's fine, look at the furnace switch, it looks like a light switch near the unit, and make sure it hasn't been bumped off. A tripped breaker or a furnace door left slightly open will also stop it cold, since most furnaces won't run unless the access panel is seated right. If all of that checks out and it still won't fire, a licensed contractor needs to look at the igniter or the control board.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often the furnace is just starting a cycle. It runs the blower for a short time before the burners kick in, so a little cool air at the start is normal. If the air stays cold the whole time it's running, the burners likely aren't lighting, which can mean a bad igniter or a flame sensor that's telling the system to shut off. With winter nights here averaging 27°F, a furnace that's only moving air and not heating it needs attention fast. A contractor can tell you which part is causing it.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually points to the thermocouple, the small part that senses the pilot flame and tells the gas valve to stay open. When it wears out or sits out of position, it reads the flame as out even when it's lit, and the gas shuts off. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. Furnaces built in the last couple decades mostly use electronic ignition instead of a standing pilot, so if yours has one, it's worth having a contractor check the thermocouple directly.