One of the most common reasons for emergency furnace repair services is when a home furnace won’t start. Before paying for professional furnace repair in Milwaukee and surrounding areas, here’s a few easy things you can check yourself in just a matter of minutes.
Check Thermostat Settings Before Furnace Troubleshooting
Before you roll up your sleeves and head to the basement or utility closet to check your furnace and fuse box, take a look at your thermostat to ensure its set to the “on” or “auto” position. This sounds so obvious, but many of our home heating repair calls are a result of homeowners not having their thermostat set properly. It may have gotten moved accidentally to the off position during dusting, cleaning or moving.
The “on” or “auto” position is going to help us double check you have power going to the furnace. If the fan doesn’t comes on after you’ve moved the switch to “on” or “auto” then you know you’ve other problems.
When checking the thermostat settings, you’ll also want to make sure you have the temperature set to a temperature that will actually turn the furnace on. Give your HVAC system a minute for the fan and heat to turn on. If that didn’t work, set your thermostat to 90 degrees to stop it from turning on and off while you’re troubleshooting. If that didn’t work, either contact our Waukesha HVAC team for help, or move on the four steps outlined below.
4 Things to Try Before Calling a Furnace Repair Company in Waukesha Co.
If your thermostat setting isn’t the culprit, head to the furnace to try these 4 simple steps.
1. Check the Furnace Filter.
Is it dirty or clogged? A clogged furnace filter prevents sufficient air flow from getting to the furnace motor causing heat and pressure to build up in the furnace. Most new furnaces will shut down before a dirty filter can more damage. If a dirty air filter is the culprit, we recommend changing or cleaning your filter, and scheduling furnace maintenance service for a more thorough furnace cleaning and filter change.
2. Is the furnace power switch “on”?
It’s a bummer to pay an HVAC technician to come to your house, just to flip a switch. The furnace power switch looks like a regular light switch and is usually on a wall near the furnace, or on the side of your furnace.
Unfortunately because it is typically not labeled and looks like a light switch, it’s common for someone to move it to the “off” or “down” position thinking they’re saving you money on lighting bills, when they’re actually turning off your furnace.
3. Check Drain Line.
The condensate drain line is located in most cases on the side of your furnace and is white or clear. If this line becomes clogged, it can cause water to back up and trigger an overflow shutoff switch. Do you notice any water pooled around the drain or furnace? If so, this may be a good indicator your drain line is clogged.
Cleaning the condensate drain line is relatively simply if you don’t mind the mess. Essentially you’ll want to pull apart the drain line at a connection, suck out the gunk with a shop vac, then use hot water and bleach to try to clean out the blockage. If this doesn’t work, or the clog seems to be in a spot that’s difficult to access, we recommend scheduling a furnace cleaning by a certified HVAC
4. Check Circuit Breaker.
The circuit breaker box is usually located in the basement, a main closet or utility closet and looks like a metal box with a bunch of sideways switches. One of those switches should hopefully be labeled “furnace” or “heating system”. If it’s not facing to the right side you know it’s NOT on, or has “been tripped.”
We need the circuit breaker to be on to allow electricity to run the furnace fan. So, to turn the furnace circuit breaker back on simply move it to the left (off) position, then back to the right (on) position. Note, if circuit breakers continue to trip you may have a more serious issue that requires a professional electrician.
24 Hour Heating Repair Service
If these furnace troubleshooting tips didn’t do the trick, it’s time to call a local HVAC professional. The New Berlin HVAC team at Capital Heating & Cooling are highly trained to troubleshoot all types of heating systems including forced air gas furnaces, oil furnace equipment, boiler heat systems, geothermal heating, and ductless heating. No matter what the issue is, you can trust our professional HVAC technicians to deliver honest and affordable 24 hour furnace repair services.
Furnace Filter Options