Furnace Repair in Elkton, MD
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Cecil County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Elkton furnaces run long hours in real cold
Your furnace works October through April here, seven months of the year. On winter nights averaging 27°F, it cycles on and off for hours at a stretch to hold the house at temperature. Every one of those cycles is another strain on the igniter and the flame sensor, and over a winter that adds up fast.
Cecil County has seen 8 winter storms and 175 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind like that can knock out power, and with over a tenth of Maryland households losing power for 24 hours or more in 2024, a furnace that depends on electricity to run its blower and controls can go down right when it's needed most.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 27°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 8 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Maryland requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Maryland licenses HVAC contractors through the Maryland Board of Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Contractors. The license belongs to the contractor, not the job, so the same license that covers a furnace repair covers whatever else that contractor is hired to do in a home.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the work. Furnace repair often means opening up a gas connection, and a bad connection is the part of this job that can actually hurt someone. In Maryland, the contractor doing that work is required to hold the state license.
Sources: Maryland General Assembly · Maryland Department of Labor
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- Most of the time it comes down to the thermostat, the power supply, or the igniter. Check that the thermostat is set to heat and the temperature is above room level, and look at the breaker panel since a tripped breaker will shut the whole system down. If those check out, the igniter or the flame sensor may have failed, and that's a job for a licensed contractor to test and replace. With winter nights here averaging 27°F, it's worth getting this looked at quickly rather than waiting.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- If air is moving but it isn't warm, the burners likely aren't lighting even though the blower is running. This can mean a dirty flame sensor, a clogged filter, or a gas supply problem. It can also mean the thermostat fan setting is on "on" instead of "auto", which pushes air through even when the furnace isn't heating it. A licensed contractor can tell which of these it is and fix it.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually points to the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning. When it wears out or sits out of position, it reads no flame even when there is one, and the gas valve shuts off. A draft blowing out the pilot or a dirty pilot orifice can cause the same thing. Since this involves the gas valve, have a licensed contractor check it rather than relighting it repeatedly.