Winter is in full swing in Minneapolis, which makes it harder to fix up furnace problems when they happen. Once your furnace starts giving you trouble in the middle of winter, you’ll have to get a repairman or repairwoman to turn off your furnace to fix it up. That means you’ll be in the cold until it is fixed. While many furnace repair services, including ours, only take a day, a day without heat is one really cold, miserable day. If you have an idea of what might be wrong, you can get your furnace fixed faster, which means there’s more time heating your home. How do you check for furnace problems? Are there common repairs that only take a little bit of time? Just like most pieces of machinery, there are always things to check first before calling in the professionals.
Furnace filters
One of the most common issues with a furnace is the filter. Filters can get clogged with dirt, dust, hair, and other things in the air quickly if not checked regularly. It will leave your home with less warm air circulating through your home, or create cold spots. That warm air instead stays trapped behind the filter, barely getting through. Be sure to check your filter or get a new one before calling your HVAC company.
Thermostat
While your thermostat might not need to be replaced regularly, a common fix is changing the setting on your thermostat. Someone might bump into the thermostat, programed the wrong setting, or it might have low batteries. It’s a simple fix that you can do quickly to warm up your home.
Pilot light or ignition
The pilot light or ignition is a problem that should be repaired by your HVAC professional. To make sure that your pilot light or ignition is the problem, look for the light towards the bottom of your furnace. You’ll know if there is a problem there if the light is yellow and if the air is coming out but not hot enough. If your light won’t ignite at all, there could be problems with ignition, the amount of carbon monoxide that it’s producing, or others. Please contact us if you suspect there is something wrong with your pilot light or ignition.
Heat exchanger
While this is less common than the others, heat exchangers can get cracked over time. Your heat exchanger is responsible for moving air through where the heat is produced to warm up the air and send it into your home. With the constant heat and adjustments to keep your desired temperature, the metal can crack and cause problems for your furnace. You can tell if it is cracked if your home has higher levels of carbon monoxide, detected by your carbon monoxide detector. This is a serious problem that will need a professional’s attention right away. Please call us if you are experiencing this problem.
While these issues may be common, they are issues that could have greater effects on your furnace in the future. Contact our HVAC professionals at Twin City Heating and Air to evaluate your furnace if you suspect any trouble. You can also check out our blog posts, “6 Common Minneapolis Furnace Problems and How to Fix Them” and “5 Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Coon Rapids Furnace,” to know what to check for if you suspect wear on your furnace.
