Furnace Repair in Bellevue, NE
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Sarpy County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts real wear on a furnace
Bellevue needs heat from October through May. That is eight months of the burner cycling on and off, and on the coldest nights, when it averages 17°F, it runs more often just to hold the temperature. Every cycle depends on the igniter to light the burner. Over that many months, an igniter can wear out and stop lighting it at all, and the house goes cold with no warning.
Most homes here heat with gas, so the furnace is doing this work all winter without a break. Sarpy County has also seen 19 winter storms and 64 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A hard freeze can crack a heat exchanger or strain a blower motor that was already close to failing, and a power outage during a storm will shut the whole system down until power comes back.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 17°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 73%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 19 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $100 a year off heating for a typical Sarpy County home.
Estimates for a typical Sarpy County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Nebraska 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.
Nebraska requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the Nebraska Department of Labor. Nobody at the state tested this contractor on furnace repair or graded their work to get that record. It means the business is on file and registered to operate here, nothing about whether they know what they're doing with a gas furnace.
In Sarpy County, 72.8% of homes heat with gas, so a furnace repair usually means someone working near a gas line and a flame. Nebraska's registration doesn't check that work, and nothing in the state's rule says who does.
Source: Nebraska Legislature
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often it is the thermostat, the power to the unit, or the igniter. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check that the switch on the furnace itself and the breaker are both on. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed, or a safety switch has shut the furnace down because of a clogged filter or a drain issue. A contractor can test the igniter and the safety switches to find which one is stopping it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Cold air blowing usually means the burners are not lighting even though the blower is running. This can happen if the igniter or flame sensor has failed, if the gas valve is not opening, or if the furnace is stuck in fan-only mode on the thermostat. It can also mean the filter is so clogged the furnace is overheating and shutting the burners off as a safety measure. Check the thermostat setting first, then check the filter, and if the air stays cold a contractor will need to look at the ignition system.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot that won't stay lit is almost always the thermocouple. That's the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it is safe to stay open. Once it wears out or gets coated with soot, it reads the flame as out even when it isn't, and the gas valve shuts down. A contractor can test it and replace it, since a standing pilot draws no power and this is a mechanical fault, not an electrical one.