Do you do furnace repair in Prescott, Wisconsin?
Yes. We're licensed in Wisconsin and repair furnaces in Prescott, the Town of Oak Grove and River Falls, at the same prices as the Twin Cities. A service call is a $79 trip charge, waived when you approve the repair, and you get a written, flat-rate price before work starts.
Key points
- Same $79 trip charge in Prescott as in the Twin Cities, waived with an approved repair, and no extra charge for the bridge.
- Most winter no-heat calls come down to the flame sensor, igniter, inducer, blocked PVC vents or a frozen condensate line.
- St. Croix Gas supplies natural gas in town. Outside the mains, many homes burn propane, and an empty tank means a leak check before relighting.
- Minnesota utility rebates don't apply here. Focus on Energy is Wisconsin's statewide program.
- Replacement pricing matches the metro: $4,500–$9,500 installed, sized with a Manual J load calculation.
Yes, we repair furnaces in Prescott. We're licensed in Wisconsin, we cover Prescott and the rural towns around it, and the pricing matches the Twin Cities: a $79 trip charge, waived when you approve the repair, and a written, flat-rate price before any work starts. Most winter calls here come down to a handful of parts and a few local quirks, like wind on the bluffs, propane outside town and old chimneys above the riverfront, and this guide covers them.
Prescott homes and what heats them
Prescott sits where the St. Croix meets the Mississippi, and it's Wisconsin's westernmost incorporated community. It started as Philander Prescott's trading post in 1839, and the housing still shows its age in layers: older river-town houses near downtown, newer homes farther from the water, and farmhouses and acreages out in the surrounding townships, including the Town of Oak Grove.
Fuel follows the same pattern. Inside town, natural gas comes from St. Croix Gas, a small Wisconsin utility. Outside the gas mains, many homes heat with propane, and some rely on electric heat or a heat pump. Electric service depends on the address, so your bill is the place to check before you look into any utility program.
For us, Prescott is one bridge from the Twin Cities. Our pricing is the same in every town we serve, with no mileage surcharge, so a no-heat call here costs what it would in Woodbury.
The no-heat calls behind most Prescott winter repairs
A gas furnace starts up in the same order every time, and repairs come down to finding the step where it stops. The failures that show up most once the cold settles in:
| What the furnace does | Likely cause | What you can check | Who fixes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burners light, then drop out within seconds | Coated flame sensor | One reset at the furnace switch | Technician |
| Inducer runs, igniter never glows | Snow or frost on the PVC vents, a frozen condensate line, or the pressure switch | Clear snow from the pipes by hand | You for snow; a technician otherwise |
| Igniter glows, no flame | Gas off, an empty propane tank, a weak igniter or the gas valve | The tank gauge, and whether the gas handle is on (don't reopen it yourself) | Propane supplier or technician |
| Howl or rattle at startup | Inducer motor bearings worn by long run hours | Nothing | Technician |
| Shuts down on windy nights | Wind across a side-wall vent upsetting the draft | Note the wind and when it happens | Technician |
| Nothing at all | Power: switch, breaker, lower door or a board fuse | The switch, the breaker and the door | You, then a technician |
The vent and the drain cause most of the cold-snap calls on high-efficiency furnaces. Blowing snow drifts over the white intake and exhaust pipes, frost builds on the exhaust, and a condensate line routed near a cold rim joist or through an attached garage freezes and backs up. Either one keeps the pressure switch from closing. Our guide to clearing a frozen furnace vent covers what you can safely do outside, and our post on a frozen condensate line covers the drain. On bluff-top and hillside lots, wind is the other local factor: gusts across a side-wall termination can trip the pressure switch on the windiest nights, and the fix may be a different termination kit or location rather than a new switch.
If you'd like to try the safe checks first, our furnace won't ignite guide walks through them in order.
What's different about repairing a propane furnace?
Propane homes around Prescott run into a few problems city-gas homes don't.
- Running out. When a tank runs dry, the furnace locks out, and the supplier normally has to leak-check the system before relighting. Air in the lines can make the first few ignition attempts fail even after that.
- Set up for LP. A furnace burning propane has to be converted for it, with the right orifices and gas valve setup. A furnace moved from a natural gas house, or a conversion done halfway, burns poorly.
- Winter access. Keep a path to the tank plowed and the regulator and fill pipe clear of drifting snow, so a delivery doesn't get skipped during a cold stretch.
Our post on propane heating costs covers tank sizing and fuel budgeting, and it applies just as well on this side of the river.
Is it safe to run a furnace that's been under water?
In a town built at the edge of two rivers, it's worth knowing one rule that's printed on nearly every gas furnace: if any part of the appliance has been under water, don't use it until a qualified technician has inspected it and replaced any control or gas valve that was submerged. That applies to spring high water, a failed sump pump or a burst pipe alike. A gas valve or control board that dried out may seem to work and still fail unsafely later.
If water reached the furnace, leave it off, let the gas utility or propane supplier know if gas equipment was involved, and have the furnace checked before the next cold night. Depending on how high the water got and how old the furnace is, the answer may be a few parts or a replacement. Either way you'll get it in writing before we start.
How do Wisconsin furnace programs and rules differ from Minnesota?
Crossing the St. Croix changes the paperwork more than the furnace.
- Rebates. Minnesota programs from Xcel Energy Minnesota and CenterPoint Energy don't apply here. Focus on Energy is Wisconsin's statewide efficiency program, and St. Croix Gas is one of its participating utilities. Its income-qualified HEAR rebates are open but require an IRA Registered Contractor for most measures. Check current requirements on the program page before you commit to equipment.
- Carbon monoxide alarms. Wisconsin's rule (state statute 101.647) calls for a working CO alarm in the basement and on each floor level of a one- or two-family home with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage. Minnesota's rule is built around sleeping rooms instead, so a house set up to Minnesota's standard can still be short an alarm.
- Permits. Replacing a furnace normally requires a permit from the city, or from the county or state where there's no local inspector. The installer should pull it.
- Licensing. We're licensed in both Minnesota and Wisconsin, which matters for any work on this side of the river.
Should you repair or replace an older furnace?
A 10-year-old furnace with a bad inducer or igniter is a normal repair. The same part on a furnace past 20 years buys time, but it may be the first of several. We give you the repair price and, if it makes sense, a replacement price in writing, so you can decide with both numbers in hand.
Our installed furnace range is $4,500–$9,500 in Wisconsin, same as in Minnesota: roughly $4,500–$6,000 for an 80% furnace and $6,500–$9,500 for a 96–98% model. We size every replacement with a Manual J load calculation rather than copying the old nameplate, which matters in farmhouses where insulation and windows have been upgraded over the years. On a windy bluff lot, where the new PVC vents terminate matters as much as the furnace itself. Our page on furnace installation in Prescott covers the local details.
What it costs and how to book
For a sense of scale, national cost guides such as HomeGuide put a typical igniter replacement at $100–$250, a flame sensor at $80–$250, an inducer motor at $400–$1,100 and a control board at $300–$650. Those are national figures, not our prices. Your repair is priced in writing once the technician finds the cause, and a completed repair carries our 1-year parts-and-labor warranty.
We're open 7 days, 7am–9pm, and no-heat calls get priority. Call 612-429-3465 or use the contact form, and see furnace repair in Prescott for what a visit here includes. We also serve Hudson and River Falls on this side of the river, at the same pricing as our furnace repair everywhere else. Tell us what the furnace is doing, which fuel it burns and what the control board light is blinking, and we'll bring the likely parts on the first trip.
Questions
Do you charge extra to come to Prescott from the Twin Cities?
No. Our pricing is the same in every town we serve, with no mileage surcharge. The $79 trip charge, the written flat-rate repair price and the 1-year parts-and-labor repair warranty are the same in Prescott, Hudson, River Falls and the Town of Oak Grove as they are in Minneapolis.
My propane ran out and the furnace won't restart. What now?
Call your propane supplier first. After a tank runs dry, the supplier normally has to leak-check the system before relighting appliances, and air in the lines can keep the furnace from lighting right away. If the gas side checks out and the furnace still won't fire or keeps locking out, that's when we come in.
Can Prescott homeowners use Xcel or CenterPoint Minnesota rebates?
No. Those programs are for Minnesota customers. On the Wisconsin side, Focus on Energy is the statewide efficiency program, and St. Croix Gas, which supplies natural gas in Prescott, takes part in it. Electric service depends on your address, so check your bill and the program page before you buy equipment.
Do you work on boilers in Prescott's older houses?
Yes. Many of the 1800s and early-1900s houses above the riverfront still heat with a boiler and radiators, and we service boilers as well as furnaces, at the same $79 trip charge. Boiler work in an old house often starts at the chimney, because a boiler or water heater venting into an old, unlined flue needs its draft checked before anything else.
Sources
- income-qualified HEAR rebates focusonenergy.com
- HomeGuide cost guides (2026 editions) homeguide.com