Dealing with a furnace breakdown in cold weather can be discomforting. You must act promptly to restore comfort and safety to your house when your heat fails. This is where emergency furnace repair services come in. However, it can be quite helpful to recognize the typical reasons behind furnace malfunctions and to know what actions to take right away.

Ensure that the furnace is powered on

An outage in electric power will prevent your furnace from heating up. It’s possible that a circuit breaker tripped. In that scenario, you can reset it by completely shutting it off. After a while, turn the circuit back on. If the circuit breaks again right away, it’s time to call an emergency furnace repair service.

Verify that the gas supply is on if your furnace runs on gas

Someone might have turned off the gas supply valve and forgotten to put it back on if you’ve just had repairs done. Alternatively, it’s possible that the gas company turned off the lines for upkeep. If you suspect this, give the gas company a quick call.

Alternatively, check the gas valve at the gas company’s meter. Next, inspect the furnace’s gas valve. The gas valve on your furnace is on when the handle is in line, or parallel to the pipe. The handle will be perpendicular to the pipe if it is off. If you smell gas, shut off the gas supply and call an emergency furnace repair expert right away.

Inspect the thermostat

Verify that the thermostat is turned on and that it is on “heat.” You’d be surprised at how many service calls occur for this reason—the homeowner didn’t realize that someone (a visitor or kid, for example) had changed the settings!

Choose “auto” over “on” if your thermostat includes a fan setting. Otherwise, the fan can keep on blowing even when the air isn’t heated. If the room temperature is lower than what is indicated by the setting, try raising the thermostat setting a few degrees to see whether the furnace turns on.

Examine the air filter in your furnace

Extremely clogged air filters prevent the air from heating up correctly. It can lead to an overheating and subsequent shutdown of your furnace.

Take off the filter and place it up against the light. Not able to see the light through it? Change it out. Inspecting and replacing your furnace filter on a monthly basis is advisable.

Inspect the ignition system or pilot light

If yours is an older furnace, make sure the pilot light is on. If you have a modern version, make sure the system is getting power and try resetting it if it has an electronic ignition. Refer to the furnace’s handbook for detailed instructions.

Check the furnace switch

Furnaces come with a dedicated power switch. Make sure the switch is activated. The switch may occasionally be inadvertently turned off.

Final words

It’s time to contact emergency furnace repair specialists if the aforementioned measures don’t fix your problem. You can make sure your house is secure and comfortable by quickly addressing furnace problems.