It's that time of year! Temperatures outside are dropping. You set your thermostat to "heat" expecting your furnace to do it's job. Only to discover hours later that the temperature in your home is dropping too. Now what? Well, before you call Minutemen Heating & Cooling, Inc. to assist you with this crisis, there are a couple of things you can do that may resolve the problem. By the way, the furnace pictured here is beyond furnace repair and ready for recycling!
Safety first! If you notice a strong odor of gas throughout your home, get everyone out. Then, call your local fire department and your local gas service provider. They are experts in dealing with gas leaks. If you notice only a slight odor of gas and only near the furnace, then call us, we can help.
First of all, check the furnace air filter. Replace or clean the filter if it is dirty.
If your furnace is doing nothing at all, then try the following. Check furnace breaker switch. If it is tripped, reset it and try the heat again. If it trips again immediately, do not try resetting it again as you could cause more damage to the furnace. Call us to help you. Also, even if it is not tripped, try turning it off and back on again. Another thing, look for a switch that looks like a common light switch near the furnace. This switch may not seem to affect any lights. On occasion, I have gone on a service call and found that this switch had been unknowingly turned off . It is a power switch specifically for the furnace. Easy fix for me and a "doh!" moment for the homeowner. Similarly, the furnace doors must be in place properly as well. There is a safety shut off power switch that is engaged when the doors are in place. Next, check to see if your pilot is out. Some furnaces more than 15 years old will have a standing pilot. This is the type of pilot that is always lit. Only standing pilots can be re-lit. Your furnace should have instructions on how to light the pilot. If it does not, then you should not attempt to light it yourself. Newer furnaces have electronic ignition systems which are self lighting and should not be lit manually. If you still have no heat, then a furnace repair will be necessary.
If your furnace is running, but not heating, then try the following. Cycle the power to the furnace off and back on again. Most furnaces have a diagnostic lock-out feature. Cycling the power to the furnace resets this and the furnace will attempt another heating cycle. If it still fails to heat, then call us at phone 614-837-5062 to schedule an appointment to repair your furnace.
If you have a heat pump system, and you have no heat, then you most likely have a problem with the indoor unit. A problem with the outdoor unit may go undiscovered for some time because the indoor unit will usually switch into auxilliary heat mode when the outdoor unit fails to provide heat. This problem will usually show up in a higher than normal electric bill (if your indoor unit is electric heat). If this happens, check the outdoor unit. If it is not running (give 5 minutes for delay timers), then check the breaker to the outdoor unit. It will be a different breaker than the breaker for the furnace. If it is tripped, reset the breaker. If it trips again, do not reset it. You can create a larger problem if you keep resetting it over and over again. For example, a customer called us for a service call after repeatingly resetting his breaker. Upon arrival, we found that a high voltage wire leading to the compressor had shifted up against a hot refrigerant line. Over time the wire melted through and shorted against the copper refrigerant line creating a short that tripped the heat pump breaker. Now, the initial short would have been unlikely to damage the refrigerant line. But, the repeated resetting of the breaker burnt a hole through the copper and released all the freon from his system. Had he called after resetting the breaker once or twice, the repair would have been a simple wire replacement. But, in this case, we had to repair the refrigerant line and re-charge the freon as well which was definitely more costly. Another thing to watch for with heat pumps is excessive frost build up on the outdoor unit. By excessive, I mean 1-2 inches or more. A light coating of frost can be normal. The most likely causes for this excessive build up of frost is a defective defrost control or a low freon charge. In which case, you will need to call us to set up a service call to repair your furnace or heat pump.
I hope this discussion on furnace repair has been informative and helpful.
If your furnace is still not working properly, call Minutemen Heating & Cooling, Inc. at 614-837-5062 to schedule an appointment for a service call to get your furnace repaired so that it will operate safely and efficiently Also, we are available for after hours emergencies as well.
-Jim Harless III
