If your heater stops working, you can often fix it yourself by checking the following quick troubleshooting steps before calling for professional help:
To quickly troubleshoot your heating system, start by checking your thermostat settings and replacing the batteries. Ensure the main electrical breaker and the emergency furnace switch are flipped on, and check if your air filter is dirty and blocking airflow.
The $5,000 rule is a guideline to help homeowners decide whether to repair or replace their HVAC system. You multiply the age of your unit by the cost of the needed repair. If that number exceeds $5,000, replacing your HVAC system is often more cost-effective.
To get your furnace to kick on, first verify your thermostat is set to "Heat" and raised at least 5 degrees above room temperature. Next, check that the furnace power switch (usually resembling a standard light switch on or near the unit) is toggled "ON".
Heat pumps don't necessarily "stop working" at specific temperatures, but their efficiency drops significantly as it gets colder.
In outdoor temperatures above 30 degrees, the heat pump should cycle off and on like a normal furnace. Somewhere between 20 and 30 degrees outdoor temperature, the heat pump will reach a “balance point” where the heat needed by the home is equal to the heat supplied by the heat pump. So now it will run all the time.
It takes time for your home to warm up and cool down. If you're not sure how long it takes, try turning the heating on about 30 minutes before you need it. You should turn it off 30 minutes before you'll stop needing it.
Your furnace’s reset button is typically a small, bright red or yellow button located either inside the blower compartment, near the burner assembly, or directly on the motor housing.
A frozen pipes furnace failure can cause major problems inside your home. Ice builds up fast in unheated spaces, and when frozen water expands, it can burst pipes wide open. That kind of mess is the last thing anyone wants during a winter heating outage.
Although comfort is personal and can vary, a generally comfortable temperature for a house is often set between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit. This range is considered ideal for most people to feel comfortable indoors.
5 Warning Signs It's Time for Furnace Replacement
The heat exchanger is often considered the most costly part of a furnace to repair or replace. It is a critical component that transfers heat from the combustion process to the air that circulates throughout your home. Over time, heat exchangers can crack due to the constant heating and cooling cycles they undergo.
On average, HVAC systems last between 10 and 25 years. The specific lifespan depends heavily on the type of equipment you own: traditional central air conditioning units typically last 12–15 years, heat pumps last 10–15 years, and furnaces generally last 15–25 years.
To determine if your furnace fuse is blown, turn off the power to the unit, remove the automotive-style fuse from the control board, and inspect it for a broken metal filament or dark burn marks. Alternatively, use a multimeter to check for electrical continuity.
No-Heat Emergencies Pose Other Risks. No heat is considered an emergency, even on a mild day, because the loss of heat could indicate severe HVAC problems that could threaten the safety of your home. Gas leak – A gas, propane, or fuel-oil furnace leak is a life-threatening emergency.
To quickly restart a heater or furnace, turn off the system's power switch or main breaker. Wait 3 to 5 minutes for the safety systems to clear, then turn it back on. If your unit stopped working due to a safety lockout, you may also need to press a red or yellow reset button.
It's such a simple thing, leaving a single faucet dripping, but it can prevent so many complications later on. How much value does one dripping faucet have? A lot, if it keeps your home's water pipes from bursting during frigid weather.
Focus on Safety and Immediate Comfort
Your first priority should always be the safety of you and your family. If the temperature inside your home starts to fall, gather everyone into one or two rooms to retain warmth. Make sure to close doors to unused spaces, add extra blankets, and dress in warm layers.
At a constant 32°F (0∘C0 raised to the composed with power cap C0∘𝐶), it typically takes 12 hours or more for water in pipes to freeze, especially if the pipes are insulated. However, the exact timing fluctuates heavily depending on pipe exposure, insulation, and whether they are located in unheated areas like exterior walls.
If it doesn't start at all, you can press the button one more time. But, if you press the reset button and your furnace goes on and turns off again, don't press the button again. Continuing to press the reset button can damage your system. Doing so will pump more oil into the furnace and worsen any existing issues.
When your furnace is running but blowing cold or unheated air, the issue is usually caused by a dirty air filter, a tripped safety switch, or a failed ignition component.
To reset a furnace, lower your thermostat to the lowest setting. Turn off power using the furnace's emergency switch or circuit breaker. Wait 2-5 minutes, turn the power back on, and adjust your thermostat. If the furnace locked out due to a safety issue, you may need to press the reset button.
Heating and energy expert Stephen Hankinson said that one "big energy cost saver" is to make sure you have your heating off when you're not at home. For instance, if you typically arrive home from work at around 6pm on weekdays, you could set your heating to activate just as you walk through the door.
Heating and cooling (HVAC) systems are the biggest energy consumers in a typical house, accounting for roughly 45−50% of your total electricity usage. Water heaters, refrigerators, and lighting round out the rest of the major draws.
For most customers, we recommend turning on your furnace when the weather is consistently below 18° Celsius, which usually happens to be around the end of September, or early October. Some homeowners try to put off turning on their furnace as long as they can to save money, which is okay if you're healthy adults.