{"id":1760,"date":"2020-12-14T11:00:45","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T16:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/blog\/?p=1760"},"modified":"2020-12-14T11:00:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T16:00:45","slug":"furnace-isnt-working-steps-take-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/?p=1760","title":{"rendered":"If Your Furnace Isn\u2019t Working, Here Are Some Steps to Take First\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-559\" src=\"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/honeywell_thermostat-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Thermostat\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/honeywell_thermostat-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/honeywell_thermostat-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/honeywell_thermostat.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Before we go further in this post, we want to be clear: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">we are not recommending you attempt to repair your furnace on your own.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> There is a big difference between the troubleshooting steps outlined below and actually taking out tools and tinkering around inside your furnace. Anything more complicated than the steps we recommend is something to leave to a certified HVAC professional. Not only will the professional know how to accurately diagnose and repair the furnace, they\u2019ll be able to do it safely. Amateur work of any kind on a furnace can lead to dangerous situations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that we\u2019ve got that cleared up\u2014what can you do when your furnace isn\u2019t working before you call us for <\/span><a href=\"\/service-areas\/air-conditioning-heating-alachua-fl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">heating repair in Alachua, FL<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3><b>Make sure the furnace switch is on<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because furnaces don\u2019t run during most of the year in Florida, they\u2019ll usually be shut down from spring through the fall. If this is the first time you\u2019ve tried to use the furnace for the season, you may have forgotten to turn it back on at the furnace switch. This switch is located near the furnace cabinet, so check to see that it\u2019s turned to \u201con.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Double-check the thermostat settings<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Again, life in Florida means we take warm weather for granted and don\u2019t think as much about how to set the thermostat for colder weather. When the furnace won\u2019t turn on, see if the thermostat setting is wrong: it might be set too warm, or it\u2019s been placed in \u201cfan only\u201d mode. Remove any heat-generating devices from near the thermostat, which might make it mistakenly read the house as hotter than it is, and not turn on the furnace.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Check the pilot light (if there is one)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Newer furnaces use an electronic ignition system (more on this in a moment), but if you have a furnace with a pilot light, it may have gone out. If you find the pilot light is extinguished, light it again. If the pilot light won\u2019t stay lit, you\u2019ll need to have technicians come to clean or repair the pilot assembly.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>See if a circuit breaker has tripped<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, a gas furnace needs electric power to run, such as power to the blower fan. Most modern furnaces use electronic ignition systems to start rather than pilot lights, so if the furnace loses electricity due to a tripped circuit breaker, it won\u2019t turn on. If you reset the breaker, but it trips again, it probably means there\u2019s trouble with the blower motor or the control board, and you\u2019ll need professionals to investigate and repair the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Change a dirty air filter<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, pull out the air filter for the furnace to see if it is clogged up. If you hold the filter up to the light and the filter blocks the light, it\u2019s too dirty. When a filter is this clogged, it can cause the furnace to shut down from overheating or lead to the blower fan tripping the circuit breaker. Put in a clean filter, and remember to change the filter every one to three months in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"\/contact\/service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Call [(site_name)] 24\/7 for exceptional customer service!<\/b><\/a><b> Serving the Communities of North Central Florida since 1998.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What can you do when your furnace isn\u2019t working before you call us for heating repair?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[135,56,155],"class_list":["post-1760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heating-service","tag-alachua","tag-furnace-repair","tag-heating-system-repair"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstoneheatingonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}