In today's video I Want to talk about some of the most common furnace issues that we see from a standpoint of actual calls. So I want to go through the eight most common things that I see if we get a no heat call someone call and say hey, my furnace is acting up I Want to go through some of the common problems so that way you as the homeowner, you can look out for them or if a contractor actually tells you what's wrong after they've looked at it. Maybe you can avoid some of these problems in the future. so let's dive into it.

The eight most common furnace issues that we see the first one is pretty simple. The furnace in a lot of cases will have what looks like a light switch that the furnace itself has a turnoff, a main shut off that the installer literally used what looks like a light switch. Now, a lot of codes and ordinances say that that light switch needs to be designated. It needs to have a red cover on it that says main shut off or the furnace or, however, it's labeled, but in some cases it's not.

it's it's just literally a light switch that's been mounted either on or near the furnace. And a lot of homeowners don't realize what that is because, especially if you're used to systems like an air handler or some other type of system that has like a disconnect or something a little more involved than an actual literal light switch, they think, well, I'm leaving this room I'm going to make sure all the switches are off that I'm not using any electricity that I'm not supposed to be and just by default, they just turn it off. We've actually had some customers call us and the main home owner knew it, but the nanny was staying there. You know they were keeping the kids and they were just turning light switches off.

didn't know what they were doing and then all of a sudden they don't have heat. That happens more often than you think. It's obviously an easy fix. We get there to the furnace and it's not working and you just flip the switch on I Wish there was a way to do away with this in some way, but because most furnaces are 120 volt, it's not a big deal.

You know, you just install the switch. you've met code. You've got a way of turning off power to that furnace within. I Sight of the furnace and it's just an easy install.

I Remember having a landlord a few years ago that a big magic marker had written on the wall beside that switch. Do Not Turn off. This kills the furnace. Moving on.

Number two is probably one of the most common things we see is a dirty flame sensor. It's just a simple component mounted inside that furnace and it should be cleaned at least once a year. I'd say if you're having your furnace maintain, you're having a professional come out and maintain that furnace. Do some maintenance, clean it up, do all the things that need to be checked and done on an annual maintenance on that Appliance One of those things being the flame sensor should be cleaned and again, it's such a small trivial part.

we get those calls. hey I don't have heat this big expensive piece of Machinery this Appliance is not working and just literally a quick cleaning of that flame sensor, Pop it back in and they have heat again. You as the homeowner I can tell you that if you hear that system trying to turn on or at least it tried, maybe it stopped now and it's in a lockout, but it tried to turn on. You could hear the flame kick on and then stop.

I Don't think that a homeowner should be getting up in there and doing things like this, but a home owner can at least know what they're up against if they hear that. Now there's other things that could fail as well that could cause that order of operations and and then that system not turning on. But a flame sensor is a lot of times. The culprit.

Number three: Poor air flow and this is just across the board. poor air flow, undersized duct work dirty air filter I Can't tell you how many times we've gotten called out. furnace is turning off. it's not running as long as it should.

it's not reaching temperature. We replace the air filters and then the system runs fine. That system needs to be able to breathe and poor air flow can cause issues. The system is designed to have a certain amount of air be blown across that heat exchanger and whenever it's not, that system is going to have problems.

We've seen some homeowners go through and shut some of their vents. They'll say I don't spend as much time in this part of the house, your furnace is going to run anyway I Get that argument in some seasons and some houses, but if you've got a furnace that's going to run anyway, shutting that vent entirely, you're causing that system to starve for air and you might actually cause that system to shut down and fail. Number four: Poor installation and I'll go one step further than just saying. Oh, the original installer did a bad job of inst falling.

I'll say that even moving forward after that, certain tests that should have been done when it was installed and certain tests that should be done periodically after it's installed test like the static pressures on that airf flow test like what's the gas pressures going in and out of that gas valve and finally combustion analization making sure that everything is operating the way it should. It's getting enough air, it's getting enough gas and so on. And I would go one step further and saying it's not just the shortterm failures of the Furnace no heat calls I would say that the overall life of the system, how long that furnace is going to last is dramatically affected on whether or not those tests are being performed when it's installed and periodically after that. Number Five A drain issue furnaces today.

especially if it's a high efficiency furnace. It's a condensing furnace. It's got a drain on it. There's water that being created by that furnace.

It goes back into the furnace and needs to drain out somewhere. And a lot of homeowners don't even realize that they've gotten an upgraded furnace. They went from an older furnace to one of these newer types, and now they've got a drain. They didn't even know that Well that needs to be maintained.

That drain needs to be free flowing, and it needs to make sure that the float switches don't open and so on. All of those things, you now have a drain and you need to make sure that it's draining. Number Six Carbon Monoxide I Don't know that I would necessarily classified as a common issue that we see, but it's a big enough problem that I would say that as a contractor talking to, hopefully a homeowner that's concerned about their system, that is going to care about not just the system itself, but their family in general that you need to be concerned about carbon monoxide. I Would not go to sleep tonight without making sure that my carbon monoxide detector that it's installed, but also making sure that if it has batteries, those batteries are replaced.

I would replace them probably more often than a smoke detector and the reason is it's a big deal. Smoke detectors are a big deal too, but Carbon Monoxide is a very silent killer of people. All you've got to do is do one quick search, do a Google Search and you'll see all the people that have unfortunately passed away because of this one issue. So Carbon Monoxide, Make sure you've got plenty of carbon monoxide detectors in the home.

I Would stress that you should have one near every bedroom that that person sleeping there would hear and I would not go to sleep tonight without it. Number seven: This is a big one, more common than you would believe, and it's gas issues that furnace is not running. it's having a problem with the gas. I've had folks with LP propane say that they didn't even know that they had gas.

We've gone to them and said hey, your tank is empty and they'll say what tank, what are you talking about Maybe they haven't lived there very long or whatever the reason is they didn't know that they had gas that needed to be filled from time to time. But I would go one step further and say that we've had natural gas customers that maybe they didn't pay their bill or sometimes it's that their neighbor didn't pay the bill and the gas company made a mistake. They came out and tried to lock out a meter and they shut off the gas to a homeowner that has been paying their bill. That's been an issue before too.

If you're not getting gas, then that furnace has no gas to burn. And then finally, number eight of the most common furnace issues we've seen. And that is poor maintenance. And we talked about maintenance a little bit.

Earlier in this video, we talked about some of the tests that should be performed periodically, But on top of that, I would say that there's a large percentage of homeowners that do not have their systems maintained. They don't have a contractor that takes care of that system making sure that it's running tiptop shape, that it's running efficiently, but also running safely, or the homeowner is doing their part. They're hiring a contractor, but then that contractor is not doing proper maintenance on that system. Whether it's due to laziness or ignorance, or some other reason that contractor is not going through and doing a proper maintenance tuneup, whatever verbiage you want to use, but they're not getting up in there and making sure that the components are cleaned up.

I Can't tell you how many maintenances I've seen done where the contractor leaves and the blower motor is still the wheel is super dirty. Well, that's going to affect airf flow, right? So just dirty components in general not being cleaned. Contractor comes out, checks gas pressures, kind of kicks the tires on the system a little bit if you will, and is gone in 15 minutes. Well, I would argue that a proper maintenance was not done, that the heat exchanger needs to be checked visually, or some sort of test performed to make sure that heat exchanger is good.

I've heard different techniques being used I'm not going to get into which ones are good or bad in this video, but as long as it's being checked in some way, making sure that the components are clean, making sure that those drains are treated and cleared, and so on. Just making sure that that system is being brought back to life, made new as much as possible periodically by a professional. and in addition to that, performing those tests that we talked about getting that combustion analyzer out and and so on. So anyway, have you had a problem with your furnace that I did not go over? I'd love to hear about that comment down below.

If you like this video, I Think you'll like this one even more. It's where I Talk about the top five energy wasters in HVAC and your home. Thanks for watching. Hit that subscribe button.

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