Furnace Repair in Lubbock, TX
Furnaces here run from November through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lubbock County will get in touch.
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Six months of cold puts real strain on a Lubbock furnace
Lubbock homes need heat from November through April, six months out of the year. On winter nights that average 29°F, a furnace is cycling on and off for hours at a time, and every one of those cycles puts a small strain on the igniter and the parts that control the flame.
More than half the homes here heat with electricity, and Lubbock County has seen ten winter storms in the last ten years. When the power drops, an electric furnace stops producing heat until it comes back on. A furnace that was already struggling to light or hold a flame is more likely to fail right when a cold snap and a power interruption hit at the same time.
- 6 months
- November through April, your furnace is on duty
- 29°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 10 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Texas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation tests contractors before they can hold this license, and it keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to the job, so the same license covers this repair and every other HVAC job that contractor takes on.
Because Texas licenses the contractor, that license is what stands behind the work on your furnace. A furnace runs on gas, and a bad connection or a cracked heat exchanger is the dangerous part of the job. The license is what tells you the person working on it has been tested on that kind of repair, not just handed a business card.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is set above room temperature, and check the batteries if it uses them. If that's not it, look at your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down. Many furnaces also have a switch that looks like a light switch near the unit, sometimes in a closet or utility room, and it needs to be on. If all of that checks out and the furnace still won't start, the igniter or a safety switch inside the unit may be the problem, and that's a job for a licensed contractor to open up and test.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit. Check your air filter first. A filter clogged with dust can choke airflow and trigger the furnace to shut off the burners while the fan keeps running, which feels like cold air. If the filter is clean, the igniter or flame sensor may be failing to light the gas at all. A furnace that runs the fan but never lights the burners needs a contractor to diagnose it, since running it that way for long wastes electricity and won't heat your home.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple has worn out. The thermocouple is a small sensor that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve it's safe to keep the gas flowing. When it wears out, it can't sense the flame properly anymore, and the valve shuts the gas off as a safety measure, even though the pilot was lit a moment ago. A draft blowing out the pilot is another common cause, worth ruling out if the flame goes out right after you light it. Either way, a licensed contractor can test the thermocouple and replace it if that's the issue.