Furnace Troubleshooting: What to Do Before Calling for Furnace Repair

October 07, 2015

The changing weather in Branchville can mean a host of things, from the changing color of leaves to turning on your furnace for the season. Of course, complete home comfort is your year-round goal, but sometimes our heating and cooling equipment doesn’t feel like doing that. That doesn’t mean that you’re predestined for furnace repair though.

When your furnace quits working or you notice it acting weirdly, there are four things you can check on before calling in the experts at Willco Air Conditioning, Refrigeration & Heating Inc. for furnace repair. Here are a couple troubleshooting tips to try before giving us a call. 

1) Check your thermostat

This is one of the easiest checks that homeowners can do independently, and could solve the problem more than they’d like to admit. Make sure your thermostat is: 

  • Set to “heat”
  • Programmed higher than the room temperature
  • Working with a newer battery

2) Look at the furnace filter 

Dirty filters can cause furnaces to act weirdly, making them shut down without notice and without making a peep. Furnace filters have been the cause for quite a few furnace repair calls in the past, but there’s no reason to pick up the phone when you can exchange it yourself. Not to mention that a dirty furnace filter decreases your system’s efficiency and reduces airflow.

3) Find and inspect your furnace’s switches

The majority of the time, switches to your furnace are found:

  • Around the furnace and usually look like your stereotypical light switch.
  • At your circuit breaker panel. Pinpoint the breaker that controls your furnace and figure out if it is in the middle position or the Off position. If it is, cycle the breaker to Off and then flip it back to the On position. 

4) Open all of your vents

A typical error among homeowners is to close vents in unused rooms, but this might actually lead to a need for furnace repair. Closing these vents can potentially cause your system to be less efficient and stop working because of added airflow pressure.

If you’ve done these four troubleshooting tips and still aren’t having any luck getting your system back operating, it’s probably time to give us a shout. The team at Willco Air Conditioning, Refrigeration & Heating Inc. in Branchville are here to be sure all of your furnace repair needs are met, so give us a call at 862-345-6896.