Waking up cold in the middle of the night is a terrible feeling. Hopefully, you can simply pull the covers up, but if your furnace is broke this a whole different problem. A comprehensive furnace repair should not be attempted without any experience, but you may there are some things that you can do yourself. With some DIY skills and basic tools, you can carry out some simple repairs and carry out some preventative maintenance. Let’s take a closer look at two common furnace problems and how they can be fixed.
The Thermostat is Not Turned On
This is a simple thing to check, and if you’re lucky, this could get your furnace up and running again. Check that the thermostat has been set on “heat” and that it’s 5° above the ambient room temperature. Here are some preventative maintenance tasks that you can do on your thermostat yourself.
Check the Battery: Some thermostats are battery powered, and you may need to change the batteries. If in doubt, mark your calendar and replace the battery once a year. Other thermostats are hooked up to the electrical system in your home, and they should work fine unless the power supply is interrupted.
Check for Dust or Debris: Open up the thermostat periodically and gently blow away any dust or debris that may have accumulated inside.
Check the Settings: If the furnace isn’t behaving correctly, make sure that the date and time are set correctly on your programmable thermostat. If you have a time model, make sure the settings been changed to deal with the colder weather conditions.
Check the Breaker: If the breaker is turned on, turn it off and then check the furnace fuse to see if it’s have blown. If it has, then replace the fuse and reset the breaker.
- The Furnace Will Not Produce Heat
If your furnace is not producing any heat, there could be a number of reasons why this is happening. Check the thermostat is set to “heat” and try moving it up and down a few degrees to see if there is any difference. If this doesn’t work, check the circuit breaker to see if a fuse has been tripped or blown. Let’s take a look at how to test and then reset your home circuit breakers.
Go to the breaker panel and find the circuit that controls the furnace power it should be clearly labeled. Check to see if the breaker has been thrown to the “Off” position or it could be stuck in the middle. You can check the breaker manually by flipping it back and forth. Then check that it will stay in the “On” position, and if this works, it will reset the breaker.
If this doesn’t work, there may be a problem with the circuit breaker system or the wiring in the circuit. This can be checked and confirmed with a multimeter. If you’re not confident on how to proceed, you may want to contact a professional for further assistance.