Furnace "Repairs" To Try Before Calling A Pro

It's never a good idea to do your own HVAC work. Furnaces have many moving parts and pieces which can break if not handled or assembled properly. There are also electrical and gas components that could lead to illness or injury if mishandled. With that being said, however, there are a few simple furnace "repair" tasks that are safe for a homeowner to handle on their own. If your furnace is not working, you may want to try these things before you resort to calling a furnace repair company.

Flip the Circuit Breaker

Most HVAC companies will set a furnace up on its own circuit. However, they will sometimes connect another appliance to the same circuit if there's not enough room in the breaker box. If your furnace is not on a dedicated circuit, then there's a chance that you actually have an issue with the other appliance on that circuit, and not with the furnace itself. A short or malfunction in that appliance's wiring could have caused the breaker associated with your furnace to trip.

So, before you call an HVAC company about your non-functioning furnace, head over to the breaker box and check your breakers. If the one for your furnace is tripped, flip it back to the "on" position." See how things go when you run the furnace again. If it trips the circuit a second time or repeatedly, then you should have a professional come look over the furnace for electrical issues.

Check the Thermostat Power

Is your thermostat hardwired, or does it have batteries? If it is hardwired, make sure the circuit breaker associated with the thermostat has not tripped. If it has batteries, change them. A loss of power to the thermostat, whether it is hard-wired or battery-operated, will cause your furnace not to function. A thermostat without power can't trigger your furnace to turn on. 

Change the Air Filter

You should be changing your air filter regularly as a part of your ordinary furnace maintenance, but it is easy to forget. A lot of symptoms that homeowners assume mean their furnace is broken, such as low airflow and short cycling, can also be triggered by a clogged filter. So, it is worth changing your filter before you make the call to an HVAC pro.

In some cases, these "repairs" won't work and you'll still need to call a pro. However, they are all simple fixes and worth an attempt. For more information on furnace repair, contact a contractor near you.

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