When temperatures plummet in Hanover, MD, your furnace becomes one of the most critical appliances in your home or business. Even if you have the right clothes to keep your body warm while indoors, you’ll still need a properly functioning furnace to heat your space. When an ideal temperature is maintained in your home, there will be a reduced risk of illnesses, and you and your family will enjoy better sleep, among other benefits. You’ll also have high productivity rates in your workplace since employees enjoy working in a comfortable environment.
Unfortunately, you may turn on your heating system only to realize it doesn’t warm your indoor space as expected. This is a frustrating experience, especially when you hear the furnace clicking on but the system doesn’t blow that toasty hot air into your building. In this article, we’ll go through some of the common reasons that may cause your furnace to stop heating.
1. Thermostat Issues
The wrong thermostat setting is one of the simple reasons your furnace might not emit heat. Since the thermostat is the control center of your heating unit, an incorrect setting means your system won’t work as expected. Make sure you set the thermostat at the ‘Heat’ or ‘Auto’ position and about five degrees above the temperature in your house. Also, try switching the fan to the ‘On’ position for the furnace to blow hot air continuously. If the furnace still doesn’t work, you will have to rely on the expertise of our team at Beltway Air Conditioning & Heating to check for other issues.
Sometimes, the problem could be the thermostat batteries. Once the batteries die, the thermostat will no longer control your heating system. Replacing the batteries at least once per year is an excellent way of avoiding this problem. In other cases, a thermostat may malfunction, making it impossible to control how the furnace works or how much heat it generates. We can help you replace it with a modern and more reliable device that will give you hassle-free service for years to come.
2. Clogged Air Filter
If your furnace fires up but doesn’t heat your building, it could be due to clogged air filters. The filters in your heating system trap dirt, dust, and other debris like pet dander and hair. Although this is great for your indoors, these particles block or restrict vital airflow through your heating unit over time. Blocked airflow can lead to overheating in the system’s heat exchanger, and your equipment won’t work as it should.
The most efficient way of solving this problem is by changing the dirty air filters. We recommend replacing your furnace filters every one to three months to keep your home clean, warm, and safe during cold days. Also, ensure your air registers and vents remain unobstructed. They shouldn’t be blocked.
3. Faulty Ignition Sensor
A faulty pilot light or ignition sensor is another common culprit and could be the reason why your gas furnace might fail to produce heat. When you have a faulty ignition sensor, you will hear your heating system initiating the start cycle or clicking on, but it fails to fire up. Clogs or dirt in your furnace can result in your ignition sensor going out.
While diagnosing this issue, our professionals will turn off the gas furnace and locate the ignition sensor near the burners. We will first clean the ignitor if it’s dirty, fix it precisely as it was before, then turn up the heating unit. Alternatively, if we notice your system has a cracked, warped, chipped, frayed, or damaged ignitor, our team will replace it. Note that to avoid damaging the furnace and your property you shouldn’t try fixing the pilot light yourself.
4. Dead Blower Capacitor
The blower capacitor in your heating system usually looks like a big battery. Once the thermostat instructs the furnace to turn on, the capacitor starts the heating system. If your system has a broken capacitor, it can’t start the furnace. Also, due to the capacitor’s tolerance levels, running the blower at excessively low RPM can easily lead to a malfunction.
After assessing your system, our trained technicians can easily tell if the capacitor in your furnace is the cause of the problem. The best solution for this issue is to replace the faulty blower capacitor. After the replacement, we’ll also take time to test your unit to ensure it’s heating your building effectively.
5. Gas Line Issues
Your heating unit might also fail to heat your home or business due to gas line issues such as malfunctioning gas valves, gas leaks, or blocked gas lines. A closed gas line means your unit doesn’t receive fuel and, consequently, doesn’t heat your house. You can check whether the gas line is turned on at the shut-off valve outside your house. Another way to tell whether you have gas supply issues is by starting different gas-burning appliance in your home, such as a stove.
If the gas line is not the issue, you’ll have to seek assistance from our team to assess your heating system. Plus, if you believe there is a leak or a smell of gas around your furnace, call our technicians to evaluate it immediately. A gas leak poses a significant danger to you, your family, and your property, so ensure you notify our team and the utility company as soon as possible.
6. Unprofessional or Poor Maintenance
Heating systems can last for several years. However, they can’t perform at their peak level without proper maintenance from a professional. Maintenance processes such as cleaning your furnace can go a long way toward keeping your system in tip-top shape. For instance, your unit can stop working if the filters and other critical components are dirty. Additionally, dirty blowers can lead to unexpected system failure. Sometimes the burners may have accumulated a lot of dirt after an extended period, so they won’t work as they should.
By scheduling regular maintenance, you can avoid having a furnace that isn’t heating your home or one that breaks down during winter. Our technicians will clean your unit and check every part of your system to ensure it’s in good condition. This way, you won’t have to worry about staying in the cold when temperatures drop significantly.
Your Furnace Repair Service Team
You can experience various problems with your furnace, but having a unit that won’t heat your house is decidedly the worst. Staying indoors without heat during the winter months can result in lots of discomfort for your family and other occupants in the building. Fortunately, you can always call our seasoned technicians to diagnose and fix your furnace.
At Beltway Air Conditioning & Heating, we offer speedy and dependable services to both residential and commercial property owners in Hanover and Arbutus. We’re a locally operated company committed to providing 100% satisfaction on every task. No matter how complex the issue may seem with your equipment, we’ll find the right solution. We train our technicians on all the new industry trends and provide all the necessary tools for their assignments so you can trust us to deliver quality services. Our team offers both heating and cooling equipment installation, repair, and maintenance as well as indoor air quality services and duct cleaning. Contact us at Beltway Air Conditioning & Heating today to book an appointment.
