Regardless of whether the winter season just began or if you’re at the tail end of it, you should always keep an eye (and ear) out for furnace performance issues. But don’t worry—we’re not asking you to give your furnace an inspection every night. The most common furnace repair issues are pretty hard to ignore. If your furnace is suddenly doing a bad job or acting strangely, we urge you not to ignore it.
That all being said, here are some of the things you should pay extra close attention to:
Uneven Heating
After running your heater for some time, does it still feel like one or more rooms still aren’t warm enough? Well, it might not just be you. When your furnace is failing to heat the entire home evenly, it might be an indication that there’s something wrong with your furnace. It’s hard to say what the exact problem is without a thorough inspection from an expert at furnace repair in Alexandria, VA, but it might be due to:
- Duct leaks
- Dirty air filters
- Obstructed air registers
- An aging furnace
Operational Issues
Your furnace is designed to go through several heating cycles as part of its normal operation. You should hear it click on, blow air for several minutes, and then shut down. If these cycles are cut short or are happening quicker than normal, there’s definitely an underlying issue, such as:
- Overheating: Your furnace has what’s called a limit switch, and one of its functions is to shut off fuel to the gas burners if the furnace becomes too hot. If this switch malfunctions or breaks, the unit can continue to overheat and may shut down abruptly.
- Short-Cycling: If the aforementioned cycles are happening rapidly, you’ve got a short-cycling issue on your hands. This can put a lot of stress on the system, and it will drive up your heating bill, as it will fail to heat the home properly.
Operational issues in your furnace won’t be possible to diagnose through a blog post, so be sure to call in for a professional opinion and possible inspection.
No Heat
Your furnace has one job to do, and if it can’t even do that, then there’s no doubt you’ve got a repair issue. Of course, “no heat” is a very general symptom, and its causes can be numerous.
Any of the issues listed above could produce no-heat-like symptoms, as well as things like:
- A malfunctioning or improperly programmed thermostat.
- Dirty gas burners.
- Broken pilot light or hot surface ignition component.
- Electrical problems.
No matter what the issue is, we can assure you that a quick maintenance check from a member of our team can get your furnace up and running again. Even a simple function like firing up the furnace requires the cooperation of several parts and components, and all it takes is a broken connection or a buildup of soot to stop it from functioning properly.
If your furnace isn’t doing its one job, contact Polar Bear Air Conditioning & Heating Inc. today to schedule service.