Furnace Repair in Medford, OR
Furnaces here run from October through June. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Jackson County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Nine months of heat puts real wear on your furnace
Medford asks for heat from October through June, nine months of the year. On winter nights that average 31°F, your furnace is lighting and shutting off again and again to keep up, and every one of those cycles wears on the igniter and the parts that control the burner.
More than half of homes here heat with electricity, and this area has recorded 64 winter storms and 69 damaging wind events over the past ten years. When the power goes out, an electric furnace stops producing heat until it's back. Across Oregon, a fifth of households last year lost power for at least 24 hours. If your furnace won't start after an outage, or it's cycling more than it used to, that wear is often where the problem starts.
- 9 months
- October through June, your furnace is on duty
- 31°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 64 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Oregon requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Construction Contractors Board licenses the contractor, not the specific repair job. The board tests and records the business, and that record follows the contractor from one furnace to the next rather than covering just this one visit.
For furnace work, that license is what stands behind the repair. The contractor doing the job is the one the board holds a record on. There is one exception. In Oregon, work under $1,000 does not need a licensed contractor.
Source: Oregon Legislative Assembly
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most of the time it comes down to power, the thermostat, or the pilot and ignition system. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and above room temperature, and check the breaker for the furnace. If the furnace has a standing pilot, look to see if it's out. With winter lows here averaging 31°F, a furnace that won't start is worth getting a contractor to look at the same day.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Cold air from the vents usually means the burners aren't lighting even though the blower is running. The blower can turn on for airflow before the burners fire, so a few seconds of cool air is normal, but cold air that keeps blowing means the heat side isn't working. A dirty filter, a bad igniter, or a flame sensor that needs cleaning can all cause this. A contractor can tell which one it is once they see the unit running.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- A pilot light that won't stay lit is almost always a thermocouple problem. That's the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve the flame is present. Once it wears out or sits out of position, the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure. It's a repair a contractor should handle, since it involves the gas valve.