Furnace Repair in Russellville, AR
Furnaces here run from October through April. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Pope County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of work, most of it on cold nights
Your furnace runs from October through April here, seven months out of the year. On nights that average 30°F through the December to February stretch, it cycles on and off for hours at a time to keep up. Every start puts load on the igniter and the switches that tell the burner when to fire.
Most homes in Pope County heat with electricity, so when the power goes out, the furnace stops with it. Nearly a quarter of Arkansas households lost power for a full day or more in 2024, and the last ten years brought 3 winter storms and 80 damaging wind events through this area. A furnace that sits off in the cold and then starts up hard when the power comes back is more likely to fail right when you need it.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 30°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 3 winter storms
- in ten years, the nights a failure hurts most
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Arkansas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license belongs to the contractor, not to the job. Arkansas tests and records the person or business, and that record follows them from one furnace repair to the next rather than getting issued fresh each time. Cities and counties in Arkansas cannot layer on their own HVAC license requirement, so the state's is the one that applies wherever you are.
For a furnace repair, that license is what stands behind the person working on your gas connection. A loose or incorrect connection is the dangerous part of this job, and the state license is what says this contractor has been tested on that kind of work, not just hired to do it.
Source: Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing
- Why won't my furnace turn on?
- The thermostat is the first place to check. Make sure it is set to heat and set a few degrees above room temperature, and check that it has power if it runs on batteries. If the thermostat looks right, check the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit, and the breaker for the furnace. Many furnaces also stop running when the air filter is clogged, since the system senses restricted airflow and shuts down rather than overheat. If none of that brings it back on, the igniter or a safety switch inside the furnace may have failed, and that calls for a licensed contractor to look at it.
- Why is my furnace blowing cold air?
- Most often this means the blower is running but the burners have not lit. Check that the thermostat fan setting is on auto, not on, since a fan set to run all the time will blow air between heating cycles and that air will feel cold. If the fan is on auto and you are still getting cold air, the igniter, the gas valve, or the flame sensor may be the problem, and those need a licensed contractor to diagnose. Cold air for a few seconds at the start of a heating cycle is normal, since the furnace runs the blower briefly before the burners fully heat up.
- Why won't my furnace pilot light stay lit?
- This usually points to the thermocouple, the small part that senses the pilot flame and keeps gas flowing to it. When the thermocouple wears out or sits out of position, it reads the pilot as out even when it is lit, and shuts the gas off. A draft blowing across the pilot can also put it out, so check that nearby vents or a door are not aimed at it. If relighting it following the instructions on the furnace does not hold, the thermocouple needs replacing, and that is a job for a licensed Arkansas HVAC contractor.