Gas Furnace Repair in Parma, Ohio
Gas heats about 87 percent of Parma homes (gas furnaces in Parma homes), and most of that gas burns in a forced-air furnace in the basement. When one of those furnaces stops heating, the cause is usually one part in the ignition and safety chain, not the whole furnace. We repair gas furnaces of every age, from standing pilot units still running in 1950s basements to two-stage and modulating 90 percent furnaces vented with PVC pipe.
Furnace repair covers the parts that light the burners and prove the flame, the parts that move air, and the controls that tie them together:
- Hot surface igniters and spark igniters that crack or wear out
- Flame sensors coated with residue, so the burners light and then shut off after a few seconds
- Inducer (draft) motors that hum, rattle or fail to start
- Pressure switches and the small hoses and ports that feed them
- Gas valves, thermocouples and pilot assemblies on older furnaces
- Blower motors, run capacitors and blower wheels packed with dust
- High limit switches and rollout switches that trip and lock the furnace out
- Control boards, transformers, door switches and loose wiring
Why Furnaces Work So Hard Around Cleveland
NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for Cleveland Hopkins Airport count about 5,500 heating degree days a year against about 950 cooling degree days (Cleveland Hopkins heating degree days). The heating load here is roughly six times the cooling load. January alone averages a low of 22 degrees, and about 111 nights a year drop to freezing or below.
That many hours of run time is what wears furnace parts out. Igniters crack after thousands of heat cycles. Inducer and blower motor bearings dry out. Filters load up faster through a long winter, which cuts airflow, heats the heat exchanger past its limit and trips the high limit switch. In December, January and February those wear parts are the usual cause of a furnace that stops heating.
Furnace Repair in Parma's 1950s and 1960s Houses
Parma grew from about 29,000 people in 1950 to almost 83,000 in 1960 (1950s houses across Parma), and the median Parma home was built in 1958. Many of those houses are on their third or fourth furnace, but the ducts, the return grilles and the chimney are often the originals. A modern furnace on 1950s ductwork can run hot and shut off on its limit switch. An 80 percent furnace on an old, oversized masonry chimney can have draft problems that show up as a pressure switch fault.
South of Pleasant Valley Road and in towns like Seven Hills and Middleburg Heights, more houses date from the 1960s and 1970s. In North Royalton the 1990s were the biggest building decade, so 90 percent furnaces with condensate traps, drains and pumps are a bigger share of the work there.
Snow-Blocked Furnace Vents and Frozen Drains
Cleveland Hopkins averages about 64 inches of snow a year, and lake-effect snow off Lake Erie can pile it up fast. A 90 percent furnace pulls combustion air in and pushes exhaust out through two white PVC pipes, often low on a side wall. When drifting snow or frost closes one of those pipes, the pressure switch opens and the furnace locks out. The same furnace drains water from its condensate trap, and a drain line run outside can freeze shut on a single-digit night. Both problems look like a dead furnace and both are repairable.
Furnace Repair Across Parma and Nearby Suburbs
Furnace repair covers Parma, Parma Heights, Brooklyn, Old Brooklyn and the rest of the service area south of Cleveland. For boilers, radiators and heat pumps see heating repair in Parma; for airflow, ducts and controls see HVAC repair in Parma; and for no heat in a cold snap see emergency furnace repair.