DIY Furnace Troubleshooting

March 06, 2015

One of the most critical parts of the winter is staying cozy and warm. Of course, staying comfortable is vital throughout the year, but during the cold it is even more essential. Winters in Des Moines are always changing and the coldest days can often spring up on us, sometimes when your furnace is ill-equipped. So, before you ask a specialized technician, here are a few things you can check first:

  1. Check your filter – grimy filters are one of the most common causes of sudden furnace failures. Air has a more difficult time floating through filters once they are grimy or dirty, causing the system to switch off often times. The older the furnace, the trickier it might be to find the problem, while newer furnaces are created to find clogged and dirty filters before further issues arise. Replacing furnace filters every month or so can ward off these troubles and keep you warm.
  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 little things like the settings of your thermostat. Verify this important step, especially if there was a new spike in temperature that may have caused you to change 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 position. If it is Off or in the middle of the two positions, change 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, position. It can often be confused as a real light switch, which is why it is usually the issue with furnace troubleshooting. Once it’s back On, the system will only need a few minutes to reboot.

Working through these steps is a straightforward and effective way of ensuring the productivity of your furnace before you make a call to your Des Moines expert. If there are still issues after you have made it through these steps, you will have a much wider idea on how to notify your [[technicians|specialists|experts}69] on what the problem might be. If you have questions or need to schedule a repair, call Kohles & Bach Heating & Cooling in Des Moines.