The intense, almost year-round Georgia heat makes most of us forget about our furnaces for months at a time. However, when it becomes cold, we all race back to our heaters. Unfortunately, some of us may find the unit won’t turn on after weeks of inactivity.
That inconvenience raises this obvious question: “The heating is not working in my home; what can I do to fix it?” Here, we’ll examine eight of the most common heating issues and get you back to living comfortably.
Minor User Errors
At first, you may think you need to tear apart your heater or call a local repair team. You should first search for user issues that might be keeping your heater from running. Specifically, you should check the furnace’s power switch to see if you or a guest accidentally powered it off.
You will most likely find your furnace’s power switch in the attic. In that location, your heater is prone to accidental collisions. Attics are often dark and cramped, prompting someone to bump into the power source and flip it off.
User errors are the most common causes of unexpected heater failures. Fortunately, they’re often the easiest problems to fix.
Circuit Breaker Issues
Unfortunately, a flip of the switch may not fix your heating. You may have to dive deeper into the HVAC system and its essential components to find the problem area. You can start by examining the circuit breaker.
Circuit breakers link to your heater’s power supply and “trip” when they sense potential danger. When they trip, they cut the energy flow from the power source to the heater. Flipping the tripped circuit back may restore power.
However, your heater’s circuit breaker may stay tripped. In that case, you must reconnect the power to get the heater working again.
While circuit breaker trips are easy to fix, you shouldn’t solely rely on circuit resets to save the day. Circuit breakers don’t trip unless they detect an issue in your heater or its power supply. If the breaker continues tripping after you reset it, you have a severe heating issue requiring professional attention.
Dirty Air Filter or Blower
Dirt is one of HVAC systems’ biggest enemies. Allowing enough grime to collect inside the system will drastically lower the system’s quality. You’ll then have an easy answer to “why the heating is not working in my home.”
The most common issue arising from dirt build-up is clogged air filters. Air filters catch any dirt or pollutants floating through your home to keep the air supply clean.
However, those pollutants will block airflow from passing through the filter when enough collect. This blockage keeps your heater’s warmth from reaching your vents.
HVAC experts recommend replacing your dirty filter every three months. This frequency should prevent dirt from dramatically decreasing your heater’s effectiveness. However, even the most clogged air filters won’t completely shut your heater off.
If you’re still wondering “why the heating is not working in my home” and have scanned the filter, you may have a dirty blower. The blower pushes your furnace’s warm air out of the system, into the ducts, and through your vents. If enough debris collects around the blower, it won’t be able to circulate air.
Furthermore, dirty blowers can lead to even more problems than poor air circulation. For example, the air the blower pushes through the system cools your furnace’s heat exchanger. If the blower can’t send it enough air, the exchanger will overheat, causing system failure.
Low or Leaking Refrigerant
Gas furnaces don’t use refrigerant to keep their internal parts cool. However, refrigerant is a heat pump’s most crucial defense mechanism against overheating.
Overheating is a massive issue for heat pumps. These devices handle intense warmth during operation. As a result, they generate their own heat while running.
If a heat pump doesn’t have enough coolant to spread across its internal parts, it creates a major issue. The entire system warms up until it eventually breaks.
Low refrigerant levels come from system leaks that often result from standard and unavoidable wear and tear. Fortunately, it’s simple to identify leaking refrigerant. For example, a pool of brightly colored liquid near your furnace is most likely leaking refrigerant.
Allowing your heater to run with a refrigerant leak will lead to intense wear and tear. A more subtle sign of leakage is seeing your utility bills spiking for no evident reason. Overall, a malfunctioning heater will produce high utility costs and poor heating quality.
Luckily, the furnace and air conditioning repair service technicians in Savannah from Georgia Air will quickly patch up your heat pump’s refrigerant leaks. We will also refill the refrigerant levels so your heat pump starts working efficiently again. Lastly, we’ll replace any broken parts to restore the old system to peak condition.
Broken Thermostat
Thermostats let you control what internal temperature your furnace heats your home. Unfortunately, when your thermostat breaks, you won’t have any way to regulate your home’s internal temperature. Consequently, your furnace won’t turn on since it doesn’t have a temperature goal to reach.
Some thermostat issues are as simple to fix as replacing the batteries. However, others may be the reason why the “heating is not working in my home.”
If you opt for a new thermostat, your best bet is a higher-end model. You should purchase a model with failsafes like automatic temperature adjustments. That way, you’re not reliant on your control over the device to change the temperature.
Perhaps you want to stick with your current thermostat, but battery replacements don’t make a difference. In that case, a furnace technician at Georgia Air Cooling & Heating will diagnose the issue for you. Thermostat problems often come from misprogrammed units, which our team members can fix quickly.
Activated Safety Measures
Besides circuit breakers, most furnaces have built-in safety features that cut your furnace’s power when detecting an issue. These features stop your furnace from igniting, emitting hazardous gas, and exploding. They will keep your heating off until the HVAC system is safe to use again.
These safety features include:
- Fire detection: Furnaces have a safety switch that monitors the unit’s internal temperature. It switches the furnace off if it exceeds a specific temperature. Without this switch, surpassing this temperature may wear down your furnace and ignite a fire.
- Gas detection: When asking why the “heating isn’t working in my home,” the problem may be an undetected gas build-up. Furnaces are supposed to ventilate gas from the gas valve out through the top of the roof. If an obstacle blocks the ventilation point, hazardous elements will remain in your home. Fortunately, the vent safety switch monitors gas levels and will turn your furnace off if those fumes cannot escape.
- Explosion detection: A worn-down pilot light can cause your furnace to explode if you continuously run the unit. For that reason, all heating systems with pilot lights have a flame detection system. This feature monitors the pilot light’s strength and shuts the furnace down if there’s an explosion risk.
It’s essential to remember that these safety features trigger for a reason. Rather than ignoring them, you must call your local HVAC technicians to examine the underlying issues. Trusted HVAC professionals can ensure your furnace is safe before using it again.
Ductwork Leaks
The ductwork bridges your furnace and home. It transports the warm air from the HVAC system and expels it into your home through your vents. Because ductwork is so vital, fixing any minor issues could answer, “What do I do if the heating is not working in my home?”
Wear and tear loosen ductwork over time. As a result, ducts may snap apart and create tiny gaps where furnace air can escape.
You may still have a problem even if you can’t see any gaps in your ductwork. Unstoppable holes are enough for air to leak out before reaching your vents.
Our HVAC repair experts at Georgia Air Cooling & Heating will seal and retighten your leaking ducts. We’ll make sure every ounce of air reaches the vents.
Broken Blower Capacitor
The blower capacitor powers your heater’s blower fan and motor. Like dirt build-up, a broken capacitor will prevent your blower from operating. This issue stops the furnace from producing warm air.
If you have this problem, you’ll need to repair or replace your broken blower capacitor. Call Georgia Air Cooling and Heating for a system inspection.
Call Georgia Air Cooling & Heating to Fix Your Broken Heater Today
Perhaps you’ve attempted to fix your furnace’s issues but are still wondering, “The heating is not working in my home; how can I repair it?” Turn to Georgia Air Cooling & Heating for help in the Richmond Hill area. Our HVAC experts will diagnose all of your heating’s significant and hidden issues and restore the unit to full strength.
Call us today at (912) 513-3471 to schedule an appointment. We’ll also help you learn the optimal ac setting for the summer.