A Broken or Underperforming Furnace is Awful In Winter

Furnaces are an important part of every household during winter. The furnace helps ensure that the house is kept warm; on the other hand, furnaces help during summer by circulating the cool air from air conditioners.

To ensure smooth operations of the furnaces, furnaces need to be regularly maintained and cleaned. When a furnace is frequently cleaned, it will last longer than a furnace that has dealt with poor maintenance.

There are things one needs to know about furnaces. This will help to ensure that a person is equipped to handle anything thrown their way. Understanding the signs that a furnace is about to fail is essential. One also needs to know how to handle every problem that the furnace will have. Lastly, one needs to understand the cost of the repairs and the cost of maintenance.

Signs a Furnace Needs Repair

There’s plenty of signs that a furnace is starting to go. An observant homeowner can see that something is going wrong early. Some signs to look for include: 

• Furnace Blowing Cold Air Only - When a furnace blows only cold air during cold weather, this is a sign that the furnace has dirty filters. The dirty and blocked filters block the free circulation of air, making the furnace work extra hard to blow warm air. The extra work by the furnace will directly impact the electricity bill for the household in that the bill will be higher than usual. Therefore, it is essential to clean the filters frequently in a span of 1 to 3 months. In addition, the furnace blowing cold air can be due to problems with air ducts that are leaking.
• Inconsistent Airflow - When one realizes that other rooms in the house are colder than others, this is a problem with the air ducts. Air ducts that are not well installed or leaking affect the control of temperatures in the household.
• Over Cycling - When a furnace keeps going on and off, this is a sign of issues with the furnace. The problem can be attributed to a faulty thermostat or the house is leaking air.
• Carbon Monoxide In The House - When installing furnaces, it is paramount that one checks if the carbon monoxide detectors are installed and if they are working. The detectors will act as the first line of defense to notify the homeowner of carbon monoxide leakage.
• Sudden Loss of Heat And Power - This sign of a problem to a furnace is easy to check-in that the furnace will shut down or the pilot light indicator will be off. However, when there is power in the house but the furnace does not start, one needs to consult a professional.

On the other hand, if there are instances where the furnace will not turn on; one needs to check the furnace's age. There is a chance that the furnace is obsolete and needs to be replaced. However, one can check the last day of the maintenance to check whether the problem is caused by poor maintenance.

Finding a Furnace Repair Company

After realizing that a furnace is due for maintenance, it is essential to know what steps to take to get the best service company for the furnace. One can opt to ask friends who have used a furnace maintenance technician to advise them on the best one they used.

To service a furnace, one can opt to call the vendor who had sold the unit to them and ask them for after-sales service, or if the warranty has expired, they can pay them to service the furnace. If the above options are not viable, one can decide to have online research of furnace maintenance companies.

The companies need to be in the area they live in. The company to select should operate on your schedule and this is to ensure that even when the furnace is faulty on cold winter nights, the technicians can still come to service it.

Likely Costs

The cost of repairing a furnace varies. The variation depends on the make of the furnace, model, and how remote the home is in some areas. Some technicians will charge an extra fee if the location of the furnace is extremely remote. Extra costs can come if accessing the furnace is inconvenient as well. 

The repair costs of a furnace are between $131 and $478. Gas furnaces repairs range between $375 to $1,200. The labor charges of a professional are between $50 to $150 per hour. In the end, if you have an expensive premium furnace, then it’s going to be more expensive than if you have a basic furnace. They tend to not break as often however.