Winter is almost upon us, and that means you'll begin to use your furnace more and more. It also means that you may run into operational problems that keep it from providing the comfort you expect. Rather than immediately calling an HVAC professional to help resolve your problems, you should familiarize yourself with some furnace troubleshooting tips that can save you time and money.
Listed below are some commonly faced problems and simple things you can do to fix them. For safety’s sake, please shut off the electrical power and gas to the system before attempting these tasks.
Furnace Not Producing Enough Heat
This is commonly caused by having furnace filters that have not been replaced recently. When they go neglected for too long, air is not able to freely flow through. Not only does your comfort suffer but the fact that your furnace is overworking to push air through the dirty filter will cause your heating costs to rise, and hasten the need for repairs.
Another possible solution is to seal up your ducts. If there are cracks or holes in the ductwork, your warm air could be leaking into your attic or crawlspaces. You can use duct mastic – a putty-like material – to patch them up. You simply spread it over the holes or cracks and allow it to harden, keeping the air within your ducts.
Furnace Not Producing Any Heat
Check whether your thermostat is set to the heating mode. While this may sound obvious, it can be easily overlooked at the beginning of the heating season. If this is not the source of the problem, if your furnace uses a pilot light, check to make sure it doesn’t need to be relit. Also check your circuit box to see that the circuit for your furnace has not been tripped.
Furnace Operates Noisily
You can lubricate the moving parts to make it work quieter.
If these furnace troubleshooting tips aren’t enough to solve your issues, contact the pros at Comfort Services today. We have proudly served Columbia, Lexington and the surrounding area since 1976.
