DIY Furnace Troubleshooting

March 06, 2015

One of the most critical parts of the winter is staying comfortable and warm. Of course, staying comfortable is important throughout the year, but during the cold it is even more crucial. Winters in York are erratic and the frostiest days can often spring up on us, sometimes when your furnace is not ready. So, before you ask a professional technician, here are a few things you can inspect first:

  1. Check your filter – dirty filters are one of the most universal causes of unexpected furnace failures. Air has a more difficult time passing through filters once they are grimy or dirty, causing the system to shut off often times. The older the furnace, the trickier it might be to notice the problem, while newer furnaces are created to find clogged and dirty filters before further issues arise. Swapping furnace filters every month or so can prevent these problems and keep you warm.
  2. See if your batteries are weak or dead – keep incessant tabs on your thermostat batteries to make sure that there isn’t a flashing low battery light or marker on your thermostat. If there is, it’s time to swap out the batteries on your thermostat.
  3. Ensure that your thermostat is set to “heat” – it can be easy to overlook little things like the settings of your thermostat. Insure this crucial step, especially if there was a recent rise in temperature that may have caused you to switch off the “heat” setting.
  4. Check your switches – in your home’s circuit breaker panel, locate the breakers that operate your furnace:
    1. [Ensure|Guarantee|Confirm]48] that the switch is in the On spot. If it is Off or in the middle of the two spots, turn the breaker to Off and then reset it to On.
    2. The switch that seems like a light switch should also be in the On, or Up, position. It can easily be misidentified as a real light switch, which is why it is often the issue with furnace troubleshooting. Once it’s back On, the system will only require a few minutes to reboot.

Going through these steps is a straightforward and effective way of confirming the productivity of your furnace before you set-up a call to your York technician. If there are still difficulties after you have made it through these steps, you will have a much better idea on how to notify your [[technicians|specialists|experts}69] on what the trouble might be. If you have questions or need to set up a repair, call Strine's Heating & Air Conditioning in York.