TLDR Quick Answers
- How much does furnace ignitor replacement cost? Professional replacement usually runs 150 to 300 dollars for parts and labor in Columbus. The part alone retails for 25 to 75 dollars.
- What are the signs of a bad ignitor? The furnace clicks, but the burners never light and no orange glow appears in the burner window.
- How long does replacement take? The swap itself takes about 20 to 45 minutes. Most full visits run about an hour.
- Can I replace an ignitor myself? A careful homeowner can, but the ceramic element cracks if it is touched or bumped.
- How long do ignitors last? Most last 3 to 7 years of heating cycles before hairline cracks or worn resistance ends their life.
Why Won’t My Furnace Ignite?
A furnace that will not ignite almost always fails at one of two steps in its startup sequence. When the thermostat calls for heat, the inducer motor spins up first. Then the ignitor glows orange hot. Then the gas valve opens, the burners light, and the flame sensor confirms the flame so the furnace keeps running.
If you look through the burner window and see no glow at all, the ignitor has burned out or cracked, its wiring is damaged, or the control board is not sending it power. If the ignitor glows weakly and the gas never lights, the element is failing and simply has not finished dying yet. Clicking with no glow tells the same story.
One pattern points somewhere else. If the burners light fine and then die within a few seconds, the ignitor did its job and the flame sensor is the suspect instead. Our flame sensor cleaning and replacement guide covers that failure in detail. Ignitor failure remains the single most common reason a furnace will not light, and it is also one of the fastest and cheapest repairs on the list.
What Is a Hot Surface Ignitor and How Does It Fail?
A hot surface ignitor is a small ceramic element that works like the element inside a toaster. The control board sends it 120 volts, it heats up until it glows bright orange, and the gas ignites the moment it touches that heated surface. Nearly every modern gas furnace uses one, because there is no pilot light burning all season.
It fails from plain thermal stress. Every heating cycle heats the element to glowing and then lets it cool back down. After thousands of those cycles, usually over 3 to 7 years, the ceramic develops hairline cracks and one cold morning it simply does not light. Skin oils from a bare touch create hot spots that crack it faster. Short cycling wears it out two or three times faster than normal. A clogged filter bakes it beyond its design temperature. Age finishes the rest, because ignitors are wear parts, much like brake pads.
Furnace clicking and glowing weakly, or not lighting at all? Call (614) 555.0134 and an ignitor replacement is usually finished within the hour once diagnosed.
How Much Does Furnace Ignitor Replacement Cost?
Professional ignitor replacement in Columbus typically costs 150 to 300 dollars with parts and labor included. The part itself retails for 25 to 75 dollars if you buy it on your own. A diagnostic visit generally runs 75 to 150 dollars, and that fee is usually rolled into the repair once the work is approved.
| Option | Typical Cost | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Ignitor part only | 25 to 75 dollars | The retail part, before any labor |
| Professional replacement | 150 to 300 dollars | Diagnosis, correct part, labor, test cycle |
| Diagnostic visit | 75 to 150 dollars | Confirming the true fault, usually credited |
The gap between the part price and the installed price buys three things: the diagnosis that confirms the ignitor is the real fault, the correct part matched to your furnace model, and verification that the furnace lights and runs safely afterward. For context, the average furnace repair in Columbus is 304 dollars, and most repairs land between 123 and 505 dollars according to Angi, so an ignitor job usually sits below the average. You approve the exact quote before any work starts, and our Columbus furnace repair cost guide prices the other common repairs the same way.
Can I Replace a Furnace Ignitor Myself?
A careful and handy homeowner honestly can do this job. It is one or two screws and a wire connector, and the part is cheap. The trouble is that hot surface ignitors are among the most fragile parts in any appliance you own. The ceramic cracks if you knock it against the housing, squeeze it, or touch the element with bare fingers, and a cracked replacement fails immediately or within weeks. Technicians handle ignitors by the ceramic base only, the way you would handle a halogen bulb.
There is also the diagnosis trap. If the control board is not sending voltage, a brand new ignitor will not light either, and you have spent the money and the evening learning the fault was elsewhere. Professional replacement at 150 to 300 dollars, usually done within an hour, starts with the fault confirmed by a meter. When you call Columbus Furnace Repair at (614) 555.0134, saying “clicks, glows, no flame” helps the technician put the right part on the truck.
Why Does My Ignitor Keep Burning Out?
One ignitor every 3 to 7 years is normal wear. Two in two years is a symptom, because something in the furnace is killing them and swapping the part alone only schedules the next failure. Short cycling multiplies the heating and cooling cycles that wear the element out. A matted filter bakes it. A control board sending dirty or excessive voltage ages it early, and a meter catches that in minutes. Dust and cleaning chemicals drawn into the burner compartment coat the element and degrade it.
On a repeat failure call, the technician checks the cycling pattern, the airflow, and the board voltage instead of only the ignitor. Fixing the cause costs less than a third ignitor.
Important Considerations
Never touch the element surface of a new ignitor with bare fingers. Skin oil creates hot spots, and hot spots crack ceramic.
Do not keep resetting a furnace that locks out. The board locks out after repeated failed ignition attempts to keep unburned gas from flowing, and the lockout is a symptom rather than the disease.
If you smell gas at any point, stop, leave the furnace alone, get out of the home, and call for help from outside.
An ignitor failure means zero heat rather than reduced heat. On a Columbus January night that is an emergency priority call, because a cold house risks frozen pipes within a day or two of a hard freeze.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my furnace ignitor is bad?
The classic signs are a furnace that runs its startup sounds but never lights, clicking with no ignition, or no orange glow in the burner window. A visible crack in the ceramic is confirmation. However, a dead control board output can look the same, so a meter test settles it before money is spent.
How much does it cost to replace a furnace ignitor in Columbus?
Professionally replaced, with parts and labor, it typically runs 150 to 300 dollars. The part alone retails for 25 to 75 dollars, but it is fragile and model specific. The average Columbus furnace repair is 304 dollars according to Angi, which puts ignitor work among the cheaper common fixes. However, the exact price depends on your furnace model, so the firm number comes after the diagnosis.
What is the difference between a bad ignitor and a bad flame sensor?
An ignitor creates the flame, and a flame sensor verifies it. With a bad ignitor the burners never light at all. With a bad flame sensor the burners light fine and then shut off within seconds, because the board cannot confirm the flame. However, the two failures feel similar from the living room, so describing the timing when you call saves real diagnostic time.
Why won’t my gas furnace ignite even though it clicks?
Most often the ignitor has cracked or burned out, and the clicking is the board starting a sequence the ignitor cannot finish. A gas valve that will not open or a board that sends no power can cause it too. However, repeated clicking usually ends in a safety lockout, so the furnace needs a diagnosis rather than more retries.
What does a furnace safety lockout mean?
A lockout means the control board shut the furnace down after repeated failed ignition attempts, rather than letting unburned gas keep flowing on every retry. A dead ignitor is the most common trigger. Fix the underlying fault and the lockout clears with it. However, resetting the furnace again and again without fixing the cause only stresses the parts further.
How long does ignitor replacement take?
The swap takes about 20 to 45 minutes once the diagnosis confirms the ignitor, and most visits run about an hour. However, an uncommon furnace model can require ordering the exact part, which adds a day in rare cases.
Can I just buy the 25 dollar part and save the labor?
You can, and plenty of homeowners do it successfully. The savings are real when the diagnosis is right and the element survives handling. However, a cracked new element or a misdiagnosed board fault erases those savings quickly, so certainty matters more than the price tag.
Does Columbus Furnace Repair replace ignitors the same day?
Yes, in most cases. Technicians carry common ignitor models on the truck, and mentioning your furnace brand when you call (614) 555.0134 raises the odds the right part is on board. However, during the coldest snaps the schedule fills early, so calling sooner gets an earlier slot.
More furnace guides are on our furnace repair blog.
