Furnace Repair in Troy, MI
Furnaces here run from October through May. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Oakland County will get in touch.
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Eight months of heat puts real wear on your furnace
From October through May your furnace is the thing standing between your house and a 19°F night. That is eight months of the burner cycling on and off, over and over, to hold the temperature. Every one of those starts leans on the igniter and the components that get the burner lit. Over enough winters, that part wears out and the furnace stops firing at all.
Most furnaces in Troy run on gas, and gas furnaces need power to run the blower, the control board, and the ignition system even though the heat itself comes from the burner. Oakland County sees its share of winter storms and wind, and across Michigan a third of households lost power for at least a day in 2024. When the power drops, the furnace stops, and it will not start back up on its own until the power does.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 19°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 86%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 16 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new furnace would cut about $150 a year off heating for a typical Oakland County home.
Estimates for a typical Oakland 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 Board of Mechanical Rules issues that license. It covers the contractor, not each job, so the same license applies whether the work is a furnace repair or a full install.
A furnace repair often means working on the gas connection, and that's the part of the job where a mistake is dangerous. In Michigan, the contractor's license is what stands behind that work. Most homes in Oakland County heat with gas, so this is the license that covers the repair a lot of homeowners here end up needing.
Sources: Michigan Legislature · Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- The most common reason is the thermostat isn't calling for heat or isn't getting power, so check the batteries and the setting before anything else. After that, it's often the furnace itself not getting power, a tripped breaker, a blown fuse, or a switch on the unit that got bumped off. Some furnaces also have a safety switch on the door panel that shuts the whole thing down if the panel isn't seated right. If power and settings check out and it still won't start, a contractor will need to look at the ignition system.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this means the blower is running but the burners haven't lit, so air is moving through the ducts without being heated first. A dirty flame sensor is a common cause of this, since it shuts off the gas valve as a safety measure when it can't detect a flame. It can also mean the igniter isn't working, so the gas never lights at all. Either way, the furnace needs a contractor to find out why the burners aren't firing.
- 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 shuts the gas off. A draft blowing across the pilot can also blow it out, so check if there's an obvious source of air nearby. If it keeps happening after relighting it, the thermocouple likely needs to be replaced.