By MyPros Staff

Winters can be very cold and snowy high in the mountains of Colorado. Right around October and November, the weather starts getting cold. Right around this time, indoor thermostats start showing temperatures in the 50's. People with old-fashioned gas furnaces turn on their pilot lights. Also at around this time, many people start scouring the Internet for furnace repair.

Denver, high in the Rockies as it is, is no exception to this rule. Why? Because, although furnaces (especially gas furnaces) are generally pretty reliable and designed to last for years, even generations, sometimes problems do arise. You don't want to be stuck in the Rocky Mountains in winter without a working furnace.

What can possibly go wrong with a furnace that's been functioning fine for years? There are several things. First, the the problem could be with thermostat. A thermostat measures the indoor temperature, and signals the furnace to turn up the heat when the temperature gets too low. It also signals the furnace to turn off the heat when the temperature gets sufficiently high, thereby conserving energy (and ensuring maximum comfort for the people in the house). If the thermostat's heat anticipator is set wrong, your house will remain too cold or too hot. The thermostat could also be dirty, or could have an electric malfunction. This could necessitate professional furnace repair.

Denver repair persons often fix problems with the furnace's blowers, and the electric motors that power them. The blowers are what get cold air into the furnace, and also what direct heated air from the furnace and into the rest of the house. If motors aren't oiled or properly maintain, they can break from overuse.

Of course, another problem that often necessitate furnace repair, Denver or anywhere else, is if the ignition or main burners on a gas furnace need replacement or adjustment. Similarly, on an electric furnace, the electric elements can burn out and need replacement.