Furnace Repair in Adrian, MI
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lenawee County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts a lot of hours on your furnace
From October through May your furnace is the thing standing between you and a house that averages 20°F outside at night. That is most of the year, and it means the burner is lighting and shutting off many times a day for eight straight months. Each cycle puts wear on the igniter and the flame sensor, the two parts that have to work every single time or the furnace won't fire at all.
Lenawee County has seen 12 winter storms and 60 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and across Michigan more than a third of households lost power for at least a day in 2024. When the power drops and comes back, most furnaces restart on their own, but the parts already worn from a long heating season are the ones most likely to fail right when you need them.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 20°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 75%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 12 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $130 a year off heating for a typical Lenawee County home.
Estimates for a typical Lenawee County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Michigan 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.
Michigan requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Michigan licenses HVAC contractors through the Board of Mechanical Rules. That license belongs to the contractor, not to your address or to this one job. It covers the person or company doing the work, wherever they go next.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the person in your house. Gas connections are the part of the job that can hurt someone if they are done wrong, and the state's testing is what backs up whether the contractor doing that connection knows how. In Lenawee County, 74.6% of homes heat with gas, so a furnace repair here is gas work more often than not.
Sources: Michigan Legislature · Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to heat and the temperature is above room temperature, and check the batteries if it uses them. If that's fine, look at the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit, and the breaker at the panel. Furnaces also won't fire if the filter is badly clogged or if the flame sensor is dirty, since the control board reads that as a fault and shuts things down rather than risk running unsafe. A contractor can tell you which of these it is and clear it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit yet, which happens for a few seconds at the start of every cycle while air still in the ducts clears out. If it keeps blowing cold for minutes at a time, the igniter or flame sensor may be failing, or the gas valve isn't opening. A cracked heat exchanger or a bad limit switch can also shut the burners off while the fan keeps going. Since winter lows here average 20°F, this isn't something to leave alone. Have a contractor check it before the house loses too much heat.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- Most furnaces built in the last couple decades don't have a standing pilot at all. They use an electronic igniter instead, so if yours won't stay lit, the more likely cause is a weak igniter, a dirty flame sensor, or a draft problem in the vent. If your furnace does have an older-style pilot, a bad thermocouple is the usual reason it won't hold a flame once you let go of the gas valve. Either way, a contractor can test the part and replace it rather than have you relight it night after night through a Michigan winter.