If your furnace isn’t keeping your home at the temperature to which you set your thermostat, if it doesn’t seem to be keeping up this winter, then you have an issue somewhere in your heating system.
Although the problem might be with the furnace itself, it could also be a result of other issues
As such, before spending your hard-earned money on professional repair, we at Springfield Heating & Cooling, present the following to help you identify the cause of the problem yourself to give you an idea of what you might be in need of.
The Thermostat
If your thermostat is broken or defective, it could be misreading the temperature in your home as being higher than it actually is. If so, it will make the furnace turn off before it actually warms the house enough. If you have a programmable thermostat or a smart thermostat, some sort of fault could be causing it to turn the furnace off and on at the wrong times. If you suspect this is going on, you can use a thermometer to check the temperature in your home next to the thermostat to see if the thermostat is reading the temperature accurately.
Size
Before assuming there’s something wrong with the system or its components, contemplate the possibility that your heating equipment might be the wrong size. When a furnace is too small for a dwelling, then it will work non-stop although it will never raise the temperature to where you need it. On the flip side, a furnace that is too big for a dwelling is also problematic. An over-sized heater can heat the air too fast, raising the temperature near the thermostat faster than that in the rest of the house. Once the thermostat reads enough warmth, it shuts off, leaving the rest of the house too cold. Oversized furnaces also cause what’s known as short-cycling, which is hard on the system.
Fan
Most furnaces move the air it warms into our home using a fan. This fan should stay on for two to three minutes after the furnace shuts down in order to push the last of the heated air into the house. If the fan remains on after this period, when there’s no heat coming out, it can push cold air into the home, which could cause uneven temperature issues. We should note, however, this problem could also be caused by an issue with a fan delay setting or by its controls.
Condensing Furnace Problems
If you have a condensing furnace that turns on for longer than five seconds and off again before reaching the right temperature, then you may have a clogged condensate drain. On the other hand, the condensate pump reservoir could be full. This causes the furnace to turn off.
Other Issues
If your furnace uses a pilot light and the pilot light tries to ignite but instead merely goes out, you might have an issue with the pilot light sensors or hardware. If your home heating system uses an electronic ignition and it does not light, the igniter or control board may be defective. Furthermore, there are several other potential causes, such as faulty gas valves and control board faults. If this is the case, you’ll need to give us a call. This is something that needs to be diagnosed and handled by professionals.
Give Us A Call Today To Get Your Furnace Running Like New!
Although there are a lot of things people can do on their own when it comes to performing work around the home, there is simply no substitute (or Do-It-Yourself solution) for speaking with a certified HVAC professional. Doing so will afford you peace of mind you can’t find anywhere online. It also pays off in dividends, to be proactive with something as intricate and expensive as a home heating system — instead of being reactive, and that’s a simple HVAC fact.
Call Springfield Heating & Cooling today at 937-350-1881, or schedule an appointment now by clicking here!
