A Few Reasons Your Home May Not Be As Warm As You Want It To Be

A furnace that is not working properly not only means that everyone in the house will feel cold and uncomfortable, it also means you are going to have a higher heating bill. While a furnace that is not working at all is obvious and you know to call a professional, any time your furnace is not providing enough heat to keep everyone comfortable, there is a problem. Here are a few reasons the system may not be working right and how to figure out what the problem is.

Thermostat Problem

If your home is not comfortably warm, even if the furnace is working, there is something wrong. The first thing to do is to check the thermostat. Try setting it a few degrees higher and see if the furnace comes on and heats things up. If you become comfortable, you can relax a bit. However, you should bring an external thermometer into the house to see what the temperature is. If the thermometer gives a different reading than the thermostat on the furnace, you need to have the thermostat replaced. While it may not seem like a big deal, and you can just set the temperature a bit higher, you may find that you have to keep making adjustments. This can cause an unnecessary rise in your heating bill. 

Dirty Burners

If the burners in the furnace are clogged, they will not light properly and the air going through the system won't be properly heated. You can take the cover off the furnace and look to see if the fire spreads around the burner evenly. If not, you should call a professional to come and clean the system and burner. Trying to do so yourself could result in damage that will have oil or gas spraying out of the furnace to catch fire that will spread to the rest of your home.

Loose Belts

If the blower fan in the furnace is belt driven, the belt must be taut to keep things moving at the right speed. If the belt is too loose, the fan will not turn fast enough to keep the air moving into the rooms of your house. A very loose belt may not spin the fan at all, so no air moves to keep the house warm.

Unless you are very comfortable working with the heating system for your home, it is better to contact a professional like Air Pride Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Inc. You do not want to cause more damage and make the needed repair more involved than it was before you did any work. 

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