No heat in Cedar Rapids? Start with the gas and pipe steps

The furnace is not heating the house in Cedar Rapids. Start with the gas and pipe steps.

Cedar Rapids limits who can pull a mechanical permit. MidAmerican supplies natural gas in the city. For a furnace bought, installed, and operating in 2026, its discount is $2.40 per 1,000 Btu per hour for its own customers, not a flat city price.

Written by

Cold House Fix editorial staff

Facts checked

October 25, 2026

Reading time

1 minute

Ask for a call

If you smell gas, leave the area. From a safe place, call MidAmerican at 800-595-5325 and call 911. MidAmerican says natural gas has no odor until mercaptan is added, which smells like rotting eggs or a skunk. If a carbon monoxide alarm is sounding, leave and call 911 from outside. What to do when the furnace is not working is the rest of that order.

MidAmerican's furnace instant discount is $2.40 per 1,000 Btu per hour of input, for its own gas customers, through a participating provider. Furnace rebates in 2026 lists that rate next to the flat rebates in Duluth and Rochester.

Only an Iowa-licensed contractor, or a homeowner with a homestead exemption, can get the mechanical permit. How to choose a furnace repair company is where to take the license question. What does a furnace repair cost? has the national HomeAdvisor range.

The local record for Cedar Rapids

What it costs

Cedar Rapids does not publish a furnace repair price on the building trades page. HomeAdvisor, updated June 20, 2026, says furnace repair costs average $318, with a normal range of $133 to $505, and a wider range of $64 to $1,475. Those figures are national, not a bid. The city's utility contact list, revised September 16, 2026, labels Alliant Energy as electricity. It does not label Alliant as the gas utility. MidAmerican's territory list pairs Cedar Rapids with gas. MidAmerican's Iowa and Illinois discount for a natural gas furnace is $2.40 per MBtuh, only through a participating provider, and only if MidAmerican supplies the gas to that furnace. The furnace must be bought, installed, and operating between January 1 and December 31, 2026. The January 2026 sheet limits it to gas only, 225,000 Btuh or less, and AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency) of 95% or better, at $2.40 per 1,000 Btuh of input. The dollar total depends on the furnace's input rating.

Permits and registration

Cedar Rapids Building and Trades says an electrical, plumbing, or mechanical permit may be issued only to a person holding a valid State of Iowa contractor's license, or to a homeowner with a homestead exemption. The mechanical desk on that page is mechanical@cedar-rapids.org and 319-286-5833. Inspections are required for all applicable permits that are issued, and the permit holder may request them.

Climate

NOAA's 1991-2020 annual normals for station USW00014990 list 6,823.8 heating degree days and 755.1 cooling degree days. The station file names that ID as CEDAR RAPIDS MUNI AP, Iowa. The January normal daily minimum is 11.3 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the lowest heating degree day total of the four cities, and the highest January minimum. The normals are not a forecast for a particular week.

About Cedar Rapids

The Census Bureau's July 1, 2024 population estimate for Cedar Rapids city, Iowa, in the Vintage 2024 city totals file, is 137,904. The city utility contact list labels Alliant Energy as electricity and lists MidAmerican Energy separately. MidAmerican's territory list pairs Cedar Rapids with gas. MidAmerican's furnace discount applies when MidAmerican supplies the gas to that furnace. The federal 25C credit does not cover property placed in service after December 31, 2025.

Sources