Emergency services
Having to deal with furnace issues in the middle of winter can be a major inconvenience. While older furnaces can be more prone to problems, many of the repair calls HVAC companies receive are for issues that stem from a lack of maintenance. Even if you think your furnace is in good condition and works properly, you can still encounter problems if you don’t get your furnace serviced. In this article, we’ll look at some of the most common furnace issues and how different maintenance tasks help to prevent them.
Furnace Won’t Turn On
Discovering your furnace suddenly isn’t turning on can be stressful. There are a variety of issues that can prevent a furnace from running. This includes things like a malfunctioning or worn-out igniter, a broken pressure switch, a faulty control board, a dirty flame sensor, or a loose wire. Thermostat issues can also result in a furnace not turning on.
While annual preventative heating maintenance won’t eliminate the chances of all problems arising, it still greatly reduces the chances. When maintaining a furnace, our HVAC technicians inspect and test all key components in the furnace along with the thermostat. This allows us to determine if a component like the flame sensor is starting to experience wear. If we find that any component is at risk of failing, we can usually replace it on the spot. Maintenance also involves tasks like cleaning the flame sensor, tightening electrical connections, and inspecting wiring. All these tasks can help prevent problems that have the potential to prevent a furnace from running.
Furnace Shuts Off Too Soon
Another issue you can encounter is your furnace turning off before it meets your temperature setting. This short cycling problem can happen for several reasons. If your thermostat is malfunctioning or not calibrated correctly, it can prematurely signal your furnace to shut down. Your equipment may be incorrectly sized. A system that is too large can be very inefficient and run incomplete cycles. Equipment that is too small can result in more frequent runtime.
One of the most common reasons for a furnace shutting off too soon is a dirty flame sensor. This sensor may fail to detect that the burners are lit. The flame sensor is an essential safety mechanism that ensures gas doesn’t continue to flow if the burners don’t light or they fail. If it doesn’t detect flames within a few seconds, the gas valve will immediately close and the furnace will shut off. This type of issue is why you should always have a technician clean and test the flame sensor at the start of every heating season.
A furnace shutting off prematurely may indicate it’s overheating. This excess heat can lead to significant damage to internal components or potentially result in a fire. Furnaces often overheat because they aren’t receiving sufficient airflow. This can happen because the filter is clogged or because of an issue with the blower. Even though the air filter is designed to keep dust and debris from entering the furnace, the blower can still get clogged. This accumulation can occur to the point where the system can’t bring in sufficient air. If there isn’t enough air constantly flowing across the heat exchanger, it can get so hot that it poses a safety hazard. That’s why another crucial part of furnace maintenance is cleaning the blower assembly.
Uneven or Ineffective Heating
Uneven heating can result from issues with your home’s ductwork, such as leaks or the ducts being undersized or oversized. More commonly, it happens because of an airflow issue related to the blower or the air filter needing to be replaced. You can often tell if the blower isn’t circulating enough air. It will lead to hot and cold spots throughout the home. Replacing your furnace filter regularly and having the blower cleaned and tested every year helps to prevent this problem.
Airflow issues can lead to a furnace not working efficiently. It may take a long time to heat the home. Poor performance can also result from the furnace not producing as much heat. For instance, if the burners are dirty or the furnace flames aren’t receiving enough oxygen, it can lead to the gas not being fully combusted. The flames give off much less heat in this instance. The biggest worry is that incomplete combustion leads to the flames giving off carbon monoxide instead of only carbon dioxide. This creates the potential for people in the house to suffer carbon monoxide poisoning. Cleaning the burners and testing that the draft inducer fan is working correctly helps ensure that the furnace burns cleanly and performs effectively.
Decreased Efficiency
If your furnace has any airflow issues or isn’t giving off as much heat, this decreases efficiency. You may also see an increase in energy consumption, which raises your carbon footprint. The amount you pay in energy costs to heat your house is often directly related to how often you have your furnace inspected and serviced. Without annual preventative maintenance, your heating costs can keep rising year after year.
Maintenance is especially important for preventing serious issues that could lead to a major spike in your heating bills. For instance, if the blower is malfunctioning or its motor is starting to wear out, it can draw much more power than it normally should. This leads to a significant increase in your electricity bills. Excess power draw can also happen if the bearings in the blower motor are worn out or the capacitor that supplies additional power to the motor is malfunctioning.
Our Maintenance Plans
At 865 HVAC, our maintenance plans take the hassle out of keeping your HVAC system in peak condition. This plan covers both your heating and cooling equipment. In the spring, we’ll perform a full cooling tune-up and handle all the necessary tasks for you. This includes cleaning the condenser and coils, checking the system for leaks, and making sure that the compressor, condenser fan, blower, and all other components work properly.
We’ll then contact you in the fall to schedule a full furnace tune-up. This service involves all the tasks we’ve previously mentioned. This includes cleaning the burners and the flame sensor, testing the amp draw of the blower to make sure it isn’t drawing excess power, and checking that all of the switches and sensors operate correctly. We’ll also fully inspect the heat exchanger so you can avoid potential carbon monoxide risks.
Our knowledgeable, experienced technicians work on all brands and types of HVAC equipment. We will ensure that your cooling and heating systems work effectively. We provide flat-rate pricing on all our services, and we back up our work with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. To learn more about the benefits of our maintenance plan or to schedule a furnace tune-up in the Knoxville, TN area, contact 865 HVAC today.
