Common Furnace Problems and What to Expect from Your Furnace Repair

Your furnace is a major investment in the comfort and safety of your home and family, and you just want it to work when you need it. Every furnace will have issues at some point during its lifespan, but do you know how to handle minor problems, how to spot big issues, and how to minimize the chance that there will be any kind of problem at all?

Over the years, home heating technology has gotten safer and more reliable. And fortunately, many of the most common issues are also the easiest to fix. Here’s what you can do to troubleshoot issues with your furnace, and how to know when it’s time to get help from an HVAC professional.

Your Furnace Isn’t On (or It Turns on and Immediately Switches Off)

Solutions: replace the air filter; check the circuit breaker and power supply

The simplest solution to this problem is that the air filter for your heating system might be dirty and need to be changed. If the airflow through the system isn’t sufficient, there’s a safety mechanism that shuts off power. Check if your home air filter needs to be changed. If that’s not the problem, check to see if the circuit breaker has flipped — it might be as simple as resetting it (though if it continues to trip, call for an HVAC service appointment, because there could be a bigger problem). Make sure that your thermometer is set to an appropriate level, and make sure the system is set to “heat” and not “cool” (for a dual heating and cooling system). If it isn’t any of those things, the next most likely answer is that your flame sensor might be dirty — a relatively easy fix for an ambitious DIY-er, or a quick and easy thing for an HVAC technician to address.

Broken Ignition

Solution: fix the ignition (this is a task for an HVAC professional)

Even though this requires a call to your local heater repair company, it’s a relatively simply fix. The switch that starts the combustion process can eventually wear out and may need to be repaired or replaced.

Condensation Issues

Solution: clear the condensation drain line or reservoir

Some newer, high efficiency furnaces have condensation traps to collect water that is created during the heating process. If the drain line for this moisture becomes blocked, the water can back up into the system, triggering a fault. This is a quick and easy fix for an HVAC technician to take care of.

Maintenance Is Like Magic

Just like you wouldn’t wait for your car to break down to have the oil levels checked, it’s not a good plan to wait for your furnace to have an issue before you call your trusted, local HVAC company to look it over. Regular maintenance is the key to having a furnace you can rely on during the coldest winter weather, and it’s the best way to ensure your home heating equipment will last as long as it’s supposed to. Have your HVAC system checked and serviced twice per year — once in the spring for the AC, and once in the fall for your furnace. This makes sure that little problems are addressed before they become big headaches and keeps lots of small issues from ever even cropping up at all. Many of the issues listed above (dirty flame sensors, worn out ignitions, blocked condensation lines) are on the list of things your heating and cooling company will address during regular maintenance, meaning that with any luck, you’ll never have to call them out for an urgent visit to address any of those problems.

Here at Jansen Heating & Cooling in Cincinnati, we have a Maintenance Club that reminds you to take care of this regular maintenance, plus offers discounts and priority appointment booking. Your trusted, local HVAC company probably has a similar program, and it’s a great way to drop one thing off of your mental list of things to take care of. Let us handle the hassle of heating and cooling issues, while you focus on the better parts of life.