Furnace Repair in Wilmington, DE
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers New Castle County will get in touch.
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Seven months of work, on cold nights
Your furnace runs from October through April in New Castle County. That's seven months of the year it has to work, and on winter nights that average 27°F, it runs long and it runs often. Every cycle means the burner lights again, and the igniter or the flame sensor takes the wear.
Delaware sees its share of winter storms and wind, eleven winter storms and 228 damaging wind events over the last ten years. Power drops with storms like that, and in 2024, 12% of households in the state lost power for at least 24 hours. A gas furnace, which over half the homes here rely on, needs electricity to run its blower and controls even though gas fuels the burner. When the power goes out, so does the heat, no matter what's feeding the flame.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 27°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 54%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 11 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $110 a year off heating for a typical New Castle County home.
Estimates for a typical New Castle County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Delaware 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.
Delaware requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state board licenses the contractor, not the job, so the same license covers whatever work they take on, including this repair. The board is the Delaware Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners, and getting licensed means passing through them first.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the person in your house. A gas furnace depends on a sound connection, and a bad one is what makes this job dangerous rather than just inconvenient. The licensed contractor is who is accountable for getting that right. In New Castle County, 53.8% of homes heat with gas, so this is the ordinary job here, not the exception.
Sources: Delaware Code Online · Delaware Division of Professional Regulation
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most of the time it's the thermostat, the power, or the gas supply. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is actually above room temperature. Then check the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit, and the breaker for it. If those are fine, the igniter may have failed or the flame sensor may be dirty enough that the furnace won't stay running. A licensed contractor can test each part and tell you which one it is.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Check the thermostat first. If it's set to fan instead of auto, the blower runs all the time whether or not the furnace is heating, and that feels like cold air. If it's set to auto and you're still getting cold air, the furnace may be failing to ignite, or it may be shutting off partway through its cycle. A dirty filter can also make it struggle to heat properly. This is worth having looked at soon, since a furnace here needs to work reliably from October through April.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This is almost always the thermocouple, the small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to keep the gas on. When it wears out or sits at the wrong angle, it can't sense the flame and it shuts the gas valve off, which puts out the pilot. Wind drafts near the burner compartment or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. A standing pilot doesn't use electricity, so a power outage isn't the cause. A contractor can check the thermocouple and replace it if that's the problem.