Dealing With Furnace Problems

Dealing With Furnace Problems

Suddenly Without Heat? It Could Be the Thermostat or Furnace

by Eliza Chapman

If your home suddenly feels like an icebox, you might not know what to think. Your thermostat could be behind the sudden dip in temperature, or it could be your furnace. Both of these heating appliances can suddenly quit working during the winter. Learn how your thermostat and furnace can make your home suddenly feel like an icebox below.

Thermostat

The thermostat controls when and how your furnace turns on during the cold season. The small appliance uses sensors to detect changes or fluctuations in your home's temperature. If the temperature inside your house dips below a specific temperature, the thermostat sends a signal to the furnace to switch on. If the sensors in your thermostat become unbalanced, corroded, or corrupted, they won't send any signals to your furnace. Your furnace will remain off until it receives a message from the thermostat to cycle back on.

Certain things that can disrupt or damage the sensors inside your thermostat, including dust. Dust can pile on the sensors' wiring and keep them from detecting your home's temperature. Dust can also form on the tiny screws and other metal parts of the thermostat over time. If you gently dust the inside of your thermostat with a feather duster or soft cloth, you may be able to correct the problem. 

You may want to go ahead and insert a new set of batteries inside your thermostat during the cleaning. Bad batteries can also cause a thermostat's sensors to fail. If dusting your thermostat and changing the batteries don't trigger your furnace to cycle back on, call a residential heating contractor immediately.

Furnace

 A contractor will check your thermostat's sensors, batteries, and other parts when they first arrive at your home. If the sensors and batteries don't have any potential problems to repair, a contractor will then check out your furnace. Your furnace could have a bad electronic ignition system, a broken limit switch, or a malfunctioning blower motor and fan.

If the ignition system, limit switch, or blower motor and fan failed, an HVAC contractor will try to repair the parts before they take any other actions. After the repairs, a contractor will test your furnace to see if it cycles off and on properly. If the furnace still doesn't switch on properly, a contractor may recommend replacing the ignition system, limit switch, or blower motor and fan. A repair technician will always provide a list of the repairs and their costs before they make any changes to your furnace.

Warm up your home by having a residential heating contractor repair your thermostat or furnace today. Speak to companies like Central York Corp to learn more.


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About Me

Dealing With Furnace Problems

A few years ago, I could tell that we were having serious furnace problems. In addition to dealing with a house that was constantly too cold or too warm, we were also plagued by a noisy, smelly furnace that seemed to have trouble on a daily basis. Unfortunately, I didn't know enough about furnaces at the time to spot the problems quickly. One day, the entire system died, and it was beyond repair. After having that experience, I learned a lot about HVAC systems, so that I could troubleshoot future systems. This website is all about teaching you what you need to know so that you don't end up in the same situation.

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