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 critical throughout the year, but during the chilly season it is even more necessary. Winters in Marshalltown are unpredictable and the coldest days can often spring up on us, sometimes when your furnace is ill-equipped. So, before you ask a specialized technician, here are a few things you can check first:

  1. Check your filter – unclean filters are one of the most universal causes of sudden furnace failures. Air has a harder time traveling through filters once they are filthy or dirty, causing the system to shut down on some occasions. The older the furnace, the harder it might be to detect the problem, while newer furnaces are designed to pick up on clogged and dirty filters before further problems arise. Replacing furnace filters every month or so can ward off these problems and keep you comfy.
  2. See if your batteries are weak or dead – keep continuous tabs on your thermostat batteries to ensure that there isn’t a flashing low battery light or indicator on your thermostat. If there is, it’s time to replace out the batteries on your thermostat.
  3. Ensure that your thermostat is set to “heat” – it can be easy to forget small things like the settings of your thermostat. Double-check this vital step, especially if there was a relevant spike in temperature that may have caused you to turn off the “heat” setting.
  4. Check your switches – in your home’s circuit breaker panel, find the breakers that operate your furnace:
    1. [Ensure|Guarantee|Confirm]48] that the switch is in the On side. If it is Off or in the middle of the two sides, change the breaker to Off and then reset it to On.
    2. The switch that appears to look like a light switch should also be in the On, or Up, side. It can often be misidentified as a real light switch, which is why it is often the problem with furnace troubleshooting. Once it’s back On, the system will only require a few minutes to reboot.

Working through these steps is an easy and effective way of ensuring the efficiency of your furnace before you set-up a call to your Marshalltown expert. If there are still issues after you have gone through these steps, you will have a much greater idea on how to update your [[technicians|specialists|experts}69] on what the trouble might be. If you have questions or need to set up a repair, call B & G HVAC in Marshalltown.