Does this sound familiar?
You’ve settled in for a cozy evening with the family. The temperatures are beginning to drop as the winter season begins, but you’re in your nice warm home with your family. You’re under a blanket reading a book or watching TV, and it feels like you’ve walked straight out of a holiday card.
Then disaster strikes. Your heat goes out, taking with it your comfort, peace of mind, and your perfect holiday card evening. Now you and the family that were so cozy just moments before are huddled together waiting for an HVAC professional to arrive.
As the leaves begin to fall and the season changes to winter, colder weather in East Tennessee is settling in. While our winters are relatively moderate compared to our northern neighbors, we can still expect some chilly temperatures this winter season.
But before you find yourself running out of bed to turn up the thermostat in the morning, you’ll want to ensure your furnace and HVAC system are working at peak performance. That means identifying problems early in the season with a maintenance visit from an HVAC professional.
Most often, issues surrounding a failed heating system can be attributed to a lack of basic maintenance and cleaning. Here are some common issues we find when called about a heater not working, and how City Heat and Air HVAC technicians can address them for you.
Dirty blower in furnace
For your home to be comfortably heated, the blower motor in your furnace takes the heated or cooled air created within the furnace and circulates it throughout your home so the temperature reaches what you’ve set on the thermostat. It does this by spinning a fan, which blows the air through the ventilation system of your home.
A blower that hasn’t been cleaned properly or regularly can prevent sufficient air from moving across your HVAC system’s heat exchanger, which could cause it to overheat and fail. One of our experienced HVAC technicians can easily address this issue.
Dirty air filters
Be honest. When’s the last time you changed your air filter? We all know it’s important to change them with the seasons, but it so easily can get pushed down the list of all your other responsibilities.
Here’s a little more incentive to make changing your filter more of a priority. A clean air filter doesn’t just help remove allergens from your home, but it improves airflow throughout your HVAC which improves overall performance for your heating and cooling. While this is basic maintenance homeowners can handle on their own, one of our licensed technicians can quickly spot this as the culprit to your home heating problems.
Dirty flame sensor
Depending on the type of furnace you have in your home, your heaters may not fully ignite unless the pilot light turns on. This blue flame typically stays lit at all times for easy access to heat, but homeowners should get ready for cold temperatures if this flame isn’t burning brightly or at all.
The most common issue with a faulty pilot light is a dirty or damaged flame sensor. A sensor covered in dirt will either cut off the moment it turns on because it can’t sense the flame or it won’t allow the pilot light to burn steady.
Dirty burners
The heat from your HVAC system originates inside your furnace from burners. A furnace burner is where air mixes with fuel and is burned to create heat. This heat is then pushed out by the blower and distributed throughout the home through your pipes or ductwork.
If the burners are neglected and left to collect dirt and dust, they will not work well or won’t work at all. A member of our technicians’ team can take care of cleaning these components.
Dirty heater filters
Winters in East Tennessee can get pretty frigid at times. But before you run to turn your thermostat up to “subtropical,” know that the filters for the heater itself can become clogged with dust, dirt, and other debris from overuse. This blockage can lead to a decrease in airflow, which will lead to less warm air in your home.
Malfunctioning heat pump
Keeping the components within your HVAC clean is essential to it operating correctly, but other issues can arise as well. As opposed to a furnace, a heat pump operates on electricity and refrigerant to extract heat from the outdoor air and blows it into the home.
If your system uses a heat pump instead of a furnace, it’s designed to defrost on its own and continue working in cold temperatures. But winter weather can wear down these devices and cause them to malfunction over time. A heat pump’s coils and fan must be clear of frost for it to operate correctly.
Broken thermostat
This may seem like an obvious or simple issue, but sometimes a malfunctioning HVAC system has an electronics problem rather than a hardware problem. A visit from a licensed HVAC technician will easily be able to identify this issue and address it quickly.
HVAC Company in Knoxville, TN
To avoid all these heating issues, you need to call a seasoned HVAC technician for annual maintenance to your furnace, heat pump, and HVAC system. To increase the lifespan of your HVAC, regular maintenance is a necessary investment to protect you from the inconvenience of a broken furnace this winter.
At City Heating and Air Conditioning, we offer an annual service plan that is unrivaled in East Tennessee. Whether your heating and cooling system needs routine maintenance or you’re ready for a new HVAC installation, City Heating and Air Conditioning has everything you need as the coming winter months bring colder weather to our area. We’re proud to provide Knoxville, TN, and the surrounding communities with exemplary heating and cooling services and have worked hard to build a reputation of outstanding customer service and satisfaction. Our HVAC company offers HVAC maintenance, installation, and repairs for a variety of HVAC systems. Learn more about our HVAC services by calling us today at 865-938-1005.