Despite the frosty weather, the holiday season tends to fills us all with a little more warmth than usual. But when the weather inside is frightful, the only thing you feel is cold.
Fortunately, the trouble you’re having with your furnace is nothing that HVAC professionals haven’t seen before. For all your common furnace problems, there are solutions. And you’ll find most of them in this guide.
So put on a couple more blankets and keep reading to learn what you can do to troubleshoot that troublesome furnace.
Furnace Isn’t Turning On
If the fan isn’t running at all, check your thermostat. Make sure it’s receiving power, turned on, and set to start heating at the desired temperature. You may need to replace the batteries of a battery-operated thermostat.
If you still can’t get the thermostat to work, get a new thermostat or call for professional repair. But if your thermostat’s working fine and the fan still won’t turn on, check the circuit breaker.
Flip all the circuit breaker switches on and test your furnace. If this still doesn’t fix the problem, call for professional furnace repair.
Furnace Won’t Heat
If the fan is running but you’re not getting hot air, this might also be a circuit breaker issue. Check the circuit breaker as above, then proceed to the next step if that doesn’t work.
Next, change your air filter. These should be changed at least every 3 months.
If they aren’t changed often enough, they fill with filth and clog the system. The heat then gets trapped by the clog and the furnace can’t heat your house properly.
Likewise, a clogged duct can restrict the heating power of your furnace. And a pilot light that won’t stay lit prevents heating as well. For these problems, though, you’ll need to call a professional.
Short Cycling
Short cycling is when your furnace keeps turning on and off very often. This is also usually caused by a clog somewhere in the system.
The heat trapped by the clog causes the system to overheat. This triggers the emergency shutoff to prevent a fire or system damage.
Thus, the furnace operates for very short amounts of time (about 2 minutes) and then shuts off again. Then, since this short cycle doesn’t adequately heat your house, it quickly turns on again, attempting to warm your home to the desired temperature. This process repeats over and over again until you change the air filter or call a furnace repair professional.
Noisy Operation
Clicking or buzzing is probably an electrical problem and will require professional repair. Rattling, screeching, or banging noises typically means your fan blade is contacting another component or is loose. It could also be that debris is blocking the path of the fan blade.
Check the outside unit. Clear away any debris you see and are able to remove.
A loud banging noise every time the heat comes on is usually the ducts expanding with the heat. All you can do about this is to replace the ducts or insulate them better.
Strange Odors
Most furnaces emanate a burnt, dusty smell the first time you use them each year. This actually is your system burning off the layer of dust that accumulates during the months that the system is resting.
But if the smell continues or gets worse, it may indicate a very dangerous hazard. You could have mold constantly growing and then burning away in your system. It could even be wires burning or your blower motor burning out. If you smell a constant burning from your furnace, it’s crucial that you shut it off and call for emergency repair now.
Use This Guide to Fix Your Common Furnace Problems
Don’t let these issues turn into bigger ones. Follow the tips in this guide to address your common furnace problems right away.
More importantly, don’t keep these hazard-preventing tips to yourself. Share them with others who might need this advice as well.
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