It’s late at night and the furnace is busy working hard to keep the house warm and pleasant. This is hopefully a cozy situation for a lot of our customers, but it’s not as comfortable as this for many people. Some furnaces are banging about making loud noises, or they’ve completely shut down due to a surprise problem.
These furnace issues require professional furnace service in Larchmont, NY, but that’s often not enough to remove the stress that’s plaguing our customers and neighbors. Why is the heating system running like this? What’s the worst that can happen in this situation?
Today we’d like to go over some of the worst-case scenarios and figure out together why a furnace can fail. Then, we’ll talk about the biggest thing that customers can do to alleviate these problems, one step at a time.
Overheating
A furnace can overheat which is one of the main reasons why it’s important to pay close attention to the system. This can happen from a number of different problems, like a clogged air filter that’s stifling airflow and causing all of the heat to collect in one location. Or, the furnace is simply too large for the home and it can’t disperse heat to enough places.
Sometimes a furnace might also be switched to the wrong setting from the thermostat which can cause overheating. Thermostats tell the unit when to cycle on and off, but if the thermostat is incorrectly calibrated then it might just run for as long as it can until it heats up too much and shuts down abruptly. All of these situations require professional support.
Electrical Malfunctions
Most modern gas furnaces rely on an electric ignition system to start up. This component, combined with the wiring to the thermostat, are basically what control the furnace.
Therefore, if a home’s electrical wiring malfunctions, or if circuits get tripped, the system might abruptly shut down which can be a cause for concern on a cold day.
Safety Issues
Gas furnaces have numerous safety components that monitor whether the unit is functioning optimally. If something wrong is detected, like gas flowing into the combustion chamber without any ignition, these components are designed to detect the flaw and shut the system down as quickly as possible.
Sometimes, a system that has shut down is like that because of a safety concern, and having a professional take a look at it is the best choice going forward.
A Broken Blower Fan
Without a blower fan running, a furnace might still operate, but the rooms in a house will still be cold and uncomfortable. This component is required for comfortable heating because it pushes the heated air through ductwork and into the rooms of the house.
If the unit is still making noise but it’s not heating the house, it could be a broken blower fan that’s led to this unique situation.
Something Else
Unfortunately, these are just four specific ways a furnace could stop working, but they’re not the only ones. Rely on a team of licensed professionals to diagnose the issue and get it fixed quickly.
It’s time to contact Yost & Campbell Heating, Cooling & Generators to have this situation dealt with affordably.