Troubleshooting your Furnace

Common Problems with Furnaces

There are several common problems home owners can have with their furnace.  The number one being from using old dirty furnace filters too long.  90% of everyday issues dealing with a furnace results from a dirty furnace filter. People also experience problems with their thermostat.  Several areas to check on your thermostat, the batteries run out, sometimes they are not as accurate as we'd like so you have to turn the temperature higher or a wire may have come disconnected. Another common problem is having snow block your exhaust pipes on your roof.  A furnace needs plenty of air to circulate (intake and exhaust) to run properly. You also may have tripped a breaker and the fuse needs to be reset. Check your panel to make sure your breakers are all on.  The last and most dangerous common problem with a furnace is a gas leak. If you smell gas make sure to turn your shutoff valve immediately to your furnace and call a local hvac company to take a look at your gas pipes and your furnace.The last most common problems home owners have with their furnace is a pilot light out. 

Understanding Furnace Parts

Here is a great video to help you identify various parts of a gas furnace.  When you are trying to repair or maintain your own furnace, you need to understand where are all the necessary parts and what they do on your furnace equipment.

This video was put together by SuperCool - for more videos by them, click here.


Here is a great video to help you identify various parts of an electric furnace put together by GrayFurnaceMan.  Electric furnaces differ a bit from gas furnaces.



For more videos buy the GrayFurnaceMan, click here.

The above common problems can be diagnosed yourself with out a contractor.  If you run through the above problems and still have not identified the issue or you smell gas you should contact a hvac company/contractor to help with furnace repairs.   There are of course some more detailed faults a furnace may experience that requires the help of a contractor.