What To Do Before Calling Us, If Your Furnace Stops Working

With autumn rolling by, there’s no doubt that winter will creep up on us when we least expect it. Perhaps you enjoy winter – tobogganing, building a snowman with your kids, skiing and snowboarding – but we can all agree that nothing beats coming inside to a well heated home after some time in the snow. What if your furnace stops working altogether? Before you panic and start putting on your snow pants & scarf and gathering wood for a fire in your living room, there is a bit of troubleshooting you can do. More often than not, furnaces can stop working for something as simple as a switch in the off position, and for simple problems – there are simple solutions.

1)      Locate both the power switch and the breaker to ensure they are on. A breaker that has been tripped will be toggled in between the on and the off position. The power switch generally looks like your everyday household light switch but is usually mounted higher, so locate that as well and ensure it is in the on position.

2)      Check to see if your furnace’s filter is clogged. A clogged filter in your furnace will not only limit air flow, but can cause your unit to overheat and shut down. It is highly recommended that you change your filter every 1-3 months, just to be on the safe side.

3)      Make sure there’s no snow blocking the exhaust or intake vents outside. While the heat of the exhaust from the vent often melts the snow and ice in its immediate area, a buildup of snow around the venting can cause safety controls to shut down the unit.

4)      Often times, a lack of heating can be caused by an incorrect setting on your thermostat. Check your thermostat for the following things:

• Is your thermostat set to “heat?”
• Have you set the temperature at least 5 degrees above your set room temperature?
• Do you have an electric thermostat? If so, it may be as simple as changing the batteries.

Hopefully by now, you will have figured out the issue and regained the heat and comfort of your home. If these troubleshooting methods didn’t work, then it’s time to give Affordable Comfort Heating and Cooling a call at (705) 503-HEAT (4328) for our Barrie office, and (705) 352-COOL (2665) for our Wasaga Beach location.