Furnace Repair in Seaford, DE
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Sussex County will get in touch.
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Seven months of heat calls in Seaford
Your furnace works from October through April here, with winter nights averaging 29°F from December through February. That is seven months of the burner cycling on and off, night after night, to keep up. Every cycle puts wear on the igniter and the ignition control, and one of those parts is usually why the furnace stops responding when you turn up the heat.
More than half the homes in this area heat with electricity, and Delaware saw 12% of households lose power for 24 hours or more in 2024. When the power drops in the middle of a cold night, a furnace that was already struggling to light has one more reason not to.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 29°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 17 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Delaware requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Delaware Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners tests and licenses the contractor, not each job. That means the person who comes to look at your furnace has already been checked by the state before your call ever came in. The license belongs to the contractor across every job they take, not to this one repair.
For a furnace, the part that matters most is the gas connection, since that is where a mistake turns dangerous. In Delaware, that work falls to a contractor the state has already tested and put on record. The license is what stands behind the person doing the work, not a check on this particular repair.
Sources: Delaware Code Online · Delaware Division of Professional Regulation
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. If the display is blank or the temperature won't change, the batteries may be dead or a breaker tripped. Check the furnace's own power switch too, it looks like a light switch and sits near the unit or on it, and make sure it wasn't bumped off. If power looks fine and the furnace still won't start, the igniter or the flame sensor may have failed, and a licensed contractor will need to check it. With winter lows here averaging 29°F, it's worth getting this looked at quickly rather than waiting.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often this means the blower is running before the burners have lit, which is normal for the first minute or so while the heat exchanger warms up. If cold air keeps coming after that, the igniter or flame sensor may not be lighting the burners at all, or the gas valve isn't opening. A dirty filter can also block enough airflow to trip a safety switch and shut the burners off while the blower keeps going. If changing the filter doesn't fix it, a licensed contractor can check the ignition system.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually points to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve a flame is present. When it wears out or sits out of position, it reads no flame even when the pilot is lit, and the valve shuts the gas off. A draft blowing across the pilot can also blow it out, so check that vents and covers near the furnace are in place. Newer furnaces don't use a standing pilot at all, they light electronically, so if yours has no visible pilot flame the problem is with the igniter instead and a licensed contractor should take a look.