What Are The Signs That The System Needs Emergency Heating Repair?
It’s wintertime in the Sunshine State, and despite the climate change, the temperatures are still very mild. Count yourself lucky because you don’t actually need to run your heating all that often.
Nonetheless, if you notice a huge spike in energy bills and spot a few concerning symptoms, you may have a malfunctioning furnace on your hands. Considering the long-term benefits of utility bill savings, addressing furnace issues ASAP is a must.
The key question is: what signs indicate you need emergency heating repair?
Here are some of the biggest ones.
1. Breaker Constantly Tripping
When your furnace starts a heating cycle, it consumes a great deal of electricity. Under normal conditions, though, your breaker should be able to handle the load. But if it keeps tripping, you may need emergency heating repair pronto.
Why?
Simple – your system is trying to prevent a circuit overload in order to minimize the damage. Not only is this inconvenient (imagine resetting the breaker every few hours), but it could also indicate serious heating issues that may snowball out of control if left unattended. In the worst-case scenario, your home’s entire electrical system could be in jeopardy.
2. Leaking Furnace
Residential furnaces generate water during the heating process. As such, a malfunction could lead to water leakage.
Along with water damage and a pesky mold infestation, a water leak also indicates that your furnace is not operating efficiently.
This is why you should call in a professional to keep the damage in check and restore your heating equipment to its original efficiency.
3. Furnace Is Struggling To Reach The Set Temperature
As stated earlier, most Florida citizens use a furnace to enhance their home’s comfort during the winter, rather than as a way to survive the “harsh cold”. Even though you may not push the furnace to its limits if any malfunction occurs, your heating system will struggle to maintain your thermostat setting – even by a few degrees in extreme cases.
Before running around and looking for DIY fixes, it’s recommended to schedule an emergency heating repair by a qualified professional. The reason why is that the underlying causes could range from simple stuff like drained thermostat batteries all the way to expensive issues with the heat exchanger.
4. Loud Noises
When starting a heating cycle, furnaces tend to purr loudly. This usually isn’t a problem and in time, you’ll get used to the noise until something out of the ordinary catches your attention.
If your heating system suddenly starts producing a wide array of noises, it could be anything from loose components to electrical issues. As with other problems on this list, procrastinating only increases the risk of developing more serious problems.
Our advice – shut down the system and wait for the pros to arrive.
5. Unpleasant Smells
Along with a cacophony of strange sounds, malfunctioning furnaces are also capable of producing various unpleasant smells – all of them being pretty concerning.
For instance, a musty odor is a clear indication of a dirty filter. This is something you can address on your own, so it doesn’t require much attention. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for smells of burning plastic, smoke, or different varieties of chemical odors.
These could indicate there’s a problem with the flue chute or a broken heat exchanger, or if you’re really unlucky, an issue with the electrical system.
6. Gas Leak
Everyone agrees that a gas leak is bad news, so if you catch a smell of rotten eggs emanating from your heating equipment, you need to act quickly.
To avoid the risk of fire, shut off the gas supply, open all the windows to let fresh air in, and wait for your HVAC company to arrive.
7. Rising Levels of Dust
Some dust in your living space is completely normal, but if you spot a significant uptick in overall dust levels only during the times when your furnace is working, you’ve caught the dusty culprit red-handed.
As heating equipment ages, it tends to push harder to meet temperature demands, which may lead to more dust being dispersed throughout the indoor space. Sure, this could also happen due to a dirty filter, but if you’re certain your filter is fresh, you may need an emergency heating repair.
8. Incorrect Flame Color
A furnace’s pilot light and burner flame should consistently exhibit a healthy blue hue. Any deviation, such as an orange or yellow flame, indicates a potential combustion issue or, in extreme instances, the possibility of excessive carbon monoxide production.
If your carbon monoxide detector starts blasting in addition to an orange or yellow burner flame, shut down the power to the furnace and call a pro.
9. Furnace Constantly Cycling On And Off
Under normal circumstances, a furnace should run until it attains the desired temperature. When it does, it should shut off automatically, only restarting when the temperature drops. If you suddenly start to notice the furnace is frequently short-cycling, something is wrong.
You may not think this warrants professional assistance, but think again.
Not only will short-cycling boost your energy expenditure, it will also increase the wear and tear on your heating system. Ultimately, you’ll waste a lot more money if you wait around than if you called for emergency furnace repair services straight away.
Help Is On The Way!
In the event you suspect your heating equipment is experiencing a malfunction, don’t wait for a more convenient time to make repairs. While it may seem that you’ll manage just fine without heat, considering how dangerous a malfunction can be, you don’t want to risk it.
There’s a silver lining here, though. Emergency heating repair services can be both affordable and reliable. The services we offer here at
Mid-Fla Heating & Air
are a testament to that.
As an HVAC contractor of choice for many citizens in Central Florida, we employ only the most qualified technicians in the area and use cutting-edge technology that allows us to quickly diagnose and repair all types of HVAC systems.
Along with that, we treat our clients as family and can also guarantee top-notch customer service, whoever and wherever you are.
Help is on the way. Just call
561-750-1625 or fill
out
our contact form
and we’ll be with you shortly!
