“My furnace stopped working”, “My furnace runs but quickly shuts off”, “My furnace light indicates open limit”, or “My furnace runs starts and stops frequently”. These are all common statements I hear from my customers. Most of the time people are looking for a quick solution to these complaints. Although that is what I would love to provide my customers, it really isn’t that simple.
Most of the time the furnace is signaling that one of its sensors is indicating a problem. But there are many root causes that can lead to the sensor signal. That’s where a skilled technician comes in handy. The technician is trained to know the dozens of possible causes for the signal and is trained to take their time to identify the one that is either making
A skilled technician also has the tools to test the various components to see if there are other signals in the electrical system that would not be seen by the average homeowner. The technician will check voltage, continuity, amperage, pressure, and temperature among the many ways to test various components until he finds one that isn’t responding within specification for the part.
A homeowner can hunt and change many parts before they find the root cause. This can cause great frustration if the part isn’t correctly identified and several good parts are replaced that work working properly. There is also the chance that in the process of “changing parts” that something could be installed incorrectly and can create further problems and further costly repairs. This happens very frequently when I arrive at a handyman’s home where they have tried to repair a furnace on their own.
And not to scare anyone too much, these safety indicators are there to protect you and your home from carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon Monoxide is an odorless gas created from furnaces that are not functioning properly. These safety sensors are there to protect the homeowner by shutting the furnace down when an unsafe condition exists. Whenever a safety switch is not working, the technician should be looking for carbon monoxide risk.
DO NOT TAKE CHANCES,
CALL ALEXANDER SERVICES IF YOUR FURNACE IS NOT WORKING.
