Is it Time to Fire up Your Home Furnace?

As the weather begins to change and we bid farewell to summer, its time to start thinking about one of the most important pieces of equipment in your home: the furnace. Most homeowners forget about the furnace until it is too late, and, if you had any problems with yours last winter, then now is definitely the time to take action.

Waiting to fire up your furnace until you actually need it could cause problems. It happens every year, the first cold snap hits and the phones at the heating and air conditioning companies light up and many people find themselves going a few days without heat as they compete with every other homeowner with furnace issues for an appointment. Don’t be left out in the cold, act now.

Heating systems are usually reliable and require very little repair if they are given regular maintenance. But without this regular maintenance a furnace could lose efficiency or cease to function all together.

To give your furnace and heating system a test run, set the thermostat at least five degrees warmer than the current temperature in the room. In a minute or two your heater should come on and you should be able to feel the heat blowing into the room. If the system does not come on you can check a few things before calling in a pro.

The first place to look is the thermostat. It may sound simple, but check to see that it is turned on. All modern thermostats have an on off switch, but they may not be clearly labeled with an “on” position. The “on” position is usually labeled “heat” or “cool.” Obviously you want to make sure the switch is in the “heat” position. If you have a programmable thermostat, refer to your user manual on how to bypass the current setting. If the heater still does not come on you’ll want to check to see if your thermostat has a replaceable battery and check it. There is nothing worse than paying one hundred and fifty bucks or more for a service technician come out to the house just to change a battery.

If your heater still does not fire up, look for an on/off switch at the furnace itself. It looks just like a light switch and is often attached to the unit itself, or very nearby. Make sure the switch is on. If your switch is on and the furnace has still yet to run, check the breakers in your electric panel. The breaker could have tripped and the solution to the problem could be as easy as flipping the switch. If all switches are on, and you are certain you have paid all your gas / electric bills then its time to call in the experts. You could have a small problem, or a catastrophic one, but from this point on, you need someone who knows the workings of the system, as well as electrical knowledge to troubleshoot and fix the problem. Call Chapman Air & Heat at 214-340-4999 and a technician will be able to come out and tell you exactly what needs to be done. We also offer maintenance programs, to save you all these hassles by coming out at regular intervals and make sure your system is in the best shape possible.