The 5 Most Common Furnace and Heating Problems
With the cold winter months officially in effect, keeping your home properly heated is vital to you and your family’s comfort and safety. However, imagine: you’re relaxing at home with your family when you notice it’s chilly. You turn up the thermostat, but nothing happens. Your heating system isn’t working, and you need to get it fixed immediately while moving your family to someplace warm.
Your furnace or heating system malfunctioning is a stressful and costly experience that can be a hassle to get fixed immediately. However, by keeping an eye on the different elements of your heating system and maintaining where it’s necessary, you might be able to head off any unexpected and unpleasant surprises. Stay warm this winter, and discover five of the most common furnace and heating problems.
A Malfunctioning Thermostat
Your thermostat is the “brain” of your heating system, sensing how warm or cold your home is and activating your furnace to produce the heat to keep your home at a reasonable temperature. However, if there’s an issue with your thermostat it might not be properly measuring the current temperature or how much heat your home will need. This can lead to not enough heat being produced, or in some cases, constant heat production causing you discomfort and a skyrocketing energy bill.
Dirty or Clogged Filters
Your furnace operates through an air filtration system to ensure that it doesn’t send airborne particles through your house and lead to problems with air quality or allergens. However, if you don’t change your filter enough it could lead to clogs. With so much clogging up your air filter, the system can get clogged up and work harder to produce less heat for your home. Luckily this is one of the easiest heating problems to fix. If your home feels colder than usual, check your air filter.
Mechanical Airflow Problems
Your heating system creates warm air, but it depends upon an airflow system to distribute that air throughout your house effectively. Your airflow system works because of a series of fan motors, bearings and belts. It’s natural to forget these, but just like any other mechanical component they’re subject to wear and tear over time that can result in decreased functionality or even outright failure. These components breaking down mean your home won’t be heated as effectively or could even cause your furnace to overheat. Calling in a dedicated professional to diagnose and fix this can be done without too much trouble.
Issues With Ignition Control or Pilot
In years past, furnaces were ignited exclusively by pilot lights, which sparked a heating cycle and led to furnace operation. With the advent of new heating technologies, however, many newer furnaces use electronic ignition control systems. These can be more efficient, but also mean that they’re more difficult to fix. Either can be easily solved with the help of a professional, however. If your heater isn’t working to produce any heat throughout your home, this could be an easily diagnosable reason why.
A Lack of Maintenance
Many of the issues mentioned previously in this list are the results of natural breakdowns and wear and tear as time goes on. At best, not addressing these cycles of wearing down can lead to increases in your energy bill as your system has to work harder to produce the same amount of heat. At worst, not proactively addressing issues can lead to an unexpected breakdown – a scenario that no one wants to deal with. With the beginning of winter arriving, it’s time to make sure your heating system and furnace are in proper working order through a maintenance check-up and tune-up.
Your heating system is easy to take for granted; it works, you feel comfortable, there’s not much more to it. If you don’t pay attention and regularly check for issues, however, you could potentially be in for a nasty surprise as you find that your home isn’t making heat, leading to costly repairs. By keeping an eye out for issues before they get out of hand, you can be sure your home will stay comfortable this winter. For help with maintaining and repairing your furnace or heating system, contact the experts at Johnson today at 317-881-7738.
