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Bartels Heating & Cooling Blog

Signs That Your Furnace Is Struggling

technician-working-on-furnace

It’s regularly running, keeping your family warm, and occasionally, it runs into problems.

Your furnace is a key component of your home comfort, but it’s not invulnerable. Eventually, something’s going to break down. The question is, will you be ready when it happens?

You can call for furnace repair in Fairfield, but before that, you should have some idea of what’s going on under the hood (so to speak). Let’s help you find out what’s going on with your furnace so you can anticipate what the repairs will entail.

Really Odd Furnace Odors

You had the furnace off during the warm season, but now that you’ve turned it back on, there’s this burning smell coming from the vents.

Luckily, that’s normal. There’s dust that accumulates in the ductwork throughout the year, and now it’s being burned off. This happens for the first few hours after you turn on a furnace that’s been lying dormant for half the year.

But when those smells persist, or it smells more like burning plastic than dust, that’s when you have a problem. Your furnace isn’t supposed to make much of a smell. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, it’s time for a repair call.

It’s Just Not Heating Enough

You know it’s on, there’s warm air coming out of the vents, but your home isn’t being heated properly. While there’s a chance this could be related to windows with poor energy efficiency and bad insulation, let’s operate assuming that it’s the furnace.

This could range from a blower motor sensor that’s malfunctioning, causing the fan to spin too fast and actually cool the air, to leaky ductwork, and a simple lack of maintenance. There are a lot of reasons that your furnace might not be heating up enough.

Consistent and Unsettling Noises

Furnaces make noises, especially when you first turn them on. Some bumps and bangs are okay, but only when they’re light and intermittent.

Loud and continuous banging sounds are a sign of trouble, as are metallic screeching noises. After using your furnace for so long, you’ll likely pick up on any abnormal noises as they appear. When something just doesn’t sound right but you can’t put your finger on it, it’s time to start listening for problems.

Hard Time During Startup

As your furnace ages, it develops “quirks.” If it’s having a difficult time during startup, that means it’s likely an electrical problem with loose wiring, or a damaged thermostat.

During a maintenance call, your technician will inspect your thermostat and any wiring to make sure everything is up to snuff, though it’s sometimes difficult to foresee these problems.

It’s TIme to Fix That Furnace

Now that it’s gone through the ringer, your furnace needs some TLC. Let’s get in there, fix it up, and restore it to its former glory.

Whatever the problem is, we’ll find a solution to get it running again. This list is only a fraction of the different problems that your furnace can run into, but it’s a great starting point to understand how complex your heating system can be.

Contact Bartels Heating & Cooling today to schedule your furnace repair and continued maintenance to help prevent these problems from happening in the future.

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