Furnace Repair in Lapeer, MI
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Lapeer County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts real wear on a furnace
Lapeer County homes run their furnace from October through May. That is eight months of the burner cycling on and off, and on nights that average 18°F, it runs long and often to keep up. Every start puts load on the igniter or the flame sensor, and over enough winters one of them gives out. The furnace either won't light at all or it fires and shuts back off within seconds.
Most furnaces here run on gas, and gas furnaces need power to run the blower and controls even though the burner itself doesn't. The last ten years brought 17 winter storms and 65 damaging wind events to the area, and statewide, a third of households lost power for a day or more in 2024. When the power drops mid-winter, the furnace stops with it, and it needs to come back on correctly once power returns.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 18°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 62%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 17 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $140 a year off heating for a typical Lapeer County home.
Estimates for a typical Lapeer 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.
The license is held by the contractor, not issued job by job, so it covers the business doing the work rather than any single repair. To get it, the contractor had to pass the state's testing through the Board of Mechanical Rules, and that record stays with them across every job they take on, including this one.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the person working on your gas connections. A bad connection is the dangerous part of this job, and in Michigan that work falls under the same licensed contractor, not a separate inspection or federal rule. In Lapeer County, most homes, about 61.5%, heat with gas, which is exactly the kind of repair this license was built to cover.
Sources: Michigan Legislature · Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most often the thermostat isn't calling for heat the way it should, or the furnace isn't getting power, gas, or a signal to fire. Check that the thermostat is set below room temperature and has working batteries if it uses them. Check your breaker panel too, since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down. If those look fine, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may be the problem, and that calls for a licensed contractor to check.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- A furnace blows cold air for a few seconds at the start of every cycle while it purges the vents before the burners light, so that part is normal. If the air stays cold the whole time it runs, the burners likely aren't lighting even though the blower is. A clogged filter can also cause this by starving the burners of air, so check the filter first. If it's clean and the air still runs cold, have a licensed contractor look at the igniter and gas valve.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually means the thermocouple has worn out and can no longer sense the pilot flame, so the gas valve shuts it off as a safety measure. A draft blowing across the pilot or a dirty pilot opening can cause the same thing. Relighting it yourself following the instructions on the furnace is fine to try once, but if it keeps going out, the thermocouple needs replacing. That's a job for a licensed HVAC contractor, since it involves the gas line.