DIY Furnace Troubleshooting

March 06, 2015

One of the most important parts of the winter is staying cozy and warm. Of course, staying comfortable is vital throughout the year, but during the winter it is even more crucial. Winters in Chadron are erratic and the frostiest days can often spring up on us, sometimes when your furnace is unprepared. So, before you ask a specialized technician, here are a few things you can examine first:

  1. Check your filter – grimy filters are one of the most common causes of unexpected furnace failures. Air has a harder time traveling through filters once they are filthy or dirty, causing the system to shut off sometimes. The older the furnace, the more difficult it might be to detect the problem, while newer furnaces are created to pick up on clogged and dirty filters before further issues arise. Swapping furnace filters every month or so can ward off these issues 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 sign 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 neglect small things like the settings of your thermostat. Insure this crucial 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, locate the breakers that control 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 positions, cycle 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, spot. It can definitely be mistaken for a real light switch, which is why it is usually the problem with furnace troubleshooting. Once it’s back On, the system will only require a few minutes to reboot.

Walking through these steps is a simple and effective way of ensuring the efficiency of your furnace before you set-up a call to your Chadron technician. If there are still problems after you have made it through these steps, you will have a much greater idea on how to update your [[technicians|specialists|experts}69] on what the issue might be. If you have questions or need to set up a repair, call MPC Heating & Cooling in Chadron.