Troubleshoot Your Furnace before Calling Repairs

When your furnace shuts down, it can be a source of panic. Winters are cold here in Round Rock, TX, and even a day without proper heating can be devastating. Most homeowners are quick to call in a repair service when their gas furnace won’t turn on, and in many cases, that swiftness is justified. But sometimes, the causes of the shutdown are simple and can be resolved without having to call for a technician. You should always troubleshoot your furnace and determine that this isn’t the case before turning to the professionals. How? Here are a few quick steps.

1. Start with the thermostat, which can easily be adjusted by another family member or suffer similar hiccups. It may be that the heat has been set higher than you expect, which is why it doesn’t turn on.
2. Check the breaker box. An electrical surge outside of the system may have triggered it, in which case resetting the switch will solve the problem. If the breaker switch gets triggered again, the issue may lie in the heater itself, in which case you need a technician.
3. Open the vents and change the filter if it’s dirty. Both can lead to hot air building up in your system, which will cause interior components to overheat and usually triggers an automatic shut-down for safety’s sake. Check to make sure that your vents are open (you should never lose more than 20% of them at any time), and change your filter if it’s dirty or needs it (you can buy replacement filters at any home improvement center). If that doesn’t correct the problem, it’s time for a repair service to look at it.

If troubleshooting the problem doesn’t work, shut your heater down—even if it isn’t running regardless—and call in the pros at Intelligent Air Services to help.