4 Common Furnace Issues and Their Fixes
Picture this: You’re sitting at home, it’s a blistery, cold day outside, but you’re curled up in your heated home feeling completely comfortable. This is a beautiful winter scene where you are curled up by the fire, reading a good book, and drinking your hot cocoa. However, there is one thing that could make this picture-perfect scene a lot more uncomfortable. What if your furnace wasn’t working?
Your furnace is a vital part of your home that’s responsible for making those perfect winter moments possible. When your heating system isn’t functioning properly, it can make you incredibly uncomfortable and miserably cold in your own home. This is a top priority to correct. Unfortunately, furnace problems are not entirely uncommon. Without regular maintenance, there are specific pieces and parts of your furnace that may start to wear down or need to be replaced. Lucky for you, most of these fixes can be done easily and efficiently so you can beat the cold weather and not worry about when the temperature drops outside. Let’s take a look at just four of the most common furnace issues and how you can fix them.
1. Your thermostat is malfunctioning.
You communicate with your heat exchanger and furnace through your thermostat. This is the piece of equipment that sits in the room that you can adjust to decide the ideal temperature. In some cases, your thermostat may be broken or outdated, therefore, it doesn’t communicate well with the furnace. This may be a reason why your furnace can’t keep up with the cold. It simply doesn’t know when you want it to be turned on or not. It also may be operating with a mind of its own for the time being. You need your HVAC system to function the way you want it to at all times. The best way to fix this problem is simply by getting another thermostat. Go online to find the popular choices that you will stay durable and help with heat loss in your home.
2. Air filters need replacing.
Another main problem with your furnace is a dirty filter. When your heating system is working hard to pump air throughout your house, it doesn’t want to have to push that warm air through a bunch of debris and clogged filters. This may also cause problems with your air quality which can’t be good for you or your family. Regular cleaning or replacing of your air filters should help eliminate this problem and get your appliance back up and running to spread warmth to your home.
3. The pilot light causing problems.
For your gas appliances like an HVAC system, they will have a pilot light that ignites when the appliance is turned on. Problems with your pilot light can cause your system to shut down. There are plenty of ways to troubleshoot if you think this is the issue. Just be sure the gas is turned off before you go in to work on it. Otherwise, this could be dangerous for you. Once you light the standing pilot light, you can slowly turn your gas furnace back on. If this doesn’t work, it may be time to call an HVAC technician to take a look.
4. Your furnace may be an inappropriate size for your home.
All furnaces are not created equal. There are different sizes of furnaces that you may need for your home. Just like how some top trends in kitchen remodeling wouldn’t work for your home, a heating system that is too large or too small won’t work either. Test to see by adjusting the heat and taking note of how quickly the temperature changes in your home. If it takes too long or gets too hot, you may need to look into different sizes for your furnace.
