Why Is Your Furnace Blowing Cold Air?

Your heating system seems to be working well, but why is your furnace blowing cold air?

The winter time calls for heavy use of your furnace on a daily basis. You may turn on your heating system expecting warm and and find that your furnace is blowing cold air instead. This is never ideal, especially when you’re relying on your furnace to keep you and your family warm during the cold Canadian winter. If this is the case, it’s not always necessary to call a technician right away as you may be able to find a simple solution to the problem by taking our advice.

Dirty Air Filter

If your heating system has overheated, it is common to find your furnace blowing cold air. In the case of an overheating furnace, your heating system has a safety function called a limit switch which will turn off the burners when the system’s temperature is above a safe level. In turn, the heating system’s fan will be running and blowing cold air through the ducts in order to prevent any serious damage from occurring, which is why you might find your furnace blowing cold air.

If your furnace’s air filter has not been changed in a while it is certain that there will be an excess buildup of dust, dirt, and other debris which will restrict the airflow in your heating and duct system. Restricted air flow means that your furnace has to run for a longer period of time to reach your desired temperature, and thus it overheats. Changing your furnace’s air filter once a month will ensure that you do not face this problem and avoid the hefty repair costs that come with an overheated furnace and a broken heat exchanger.

Check the thermostat

The solution to your furnace blowing cold air could reside in your thermostat settings. Make sure that your thermostat is not set to ON and is instead set to AUTO. When the thermostat is set to ON, there will be cold air being blown through the ducts  constantly by the fan in your heater. If your thermostat settings were the problem, setting your thermostat to AUTO should fix the problem.

Ignition system not working

If you own a gas furnace and are experiencing your furnace blowing cold air, it is possible that the problem has to do with the pilot light. If your pilot light is out that means that the heating system is not lighting the fuel and is therefore not heating your home.

The manual that comes with your gas furnace should come with instructions on how to relight the pilot light. If you relight it and the flame dies down once again, then there may be a bigger problem. If this is the case you may need to book a repair appointment with a trained HVAC technician and they will repair or replace the necessary components and bring your furnace back in working order. If you relight the pilot light and it stays lit then you have successfully fixed the problem and your gas furnace should now be warming up your home.

If you are unable to relight the pilot light whatsoever, it may be a problem related to the gas valve. Check to make sure that the gas valve is turned on. If the gas valve is turned on, but the pilot light is off then you may have a dirty pilot light. Clean the pilot light and the problem should be solved.

Poor Gas Supply

Your home’s furnace has a safety function which causes it to shut down when there is not enough gas to warm the air. If the gas supply is turned on and this is the problem then you have a severed gas line. This problem would make it crucially important for you to reach out to a trained technician for further assistance.

Blocked Drain Lines

Condensate drain lines are built into furnace systems in order to remove ant built up water that is a result of the heating procedure. If this drain lines becomes clogged then your furnace system will not allow the burners to turn on and warm the air.

Flame Sensor Problem

If you find that your furnace has a dirty flame sensor, this may be why your furnace blowing cold air. A dirty furnace flame sensor would cause your furnace unit to consistently start and stop running, which would not allow your gas burner to stay on and would cause for cold air to circulate through your duct system. Cleaning the flame sensor would solve this problem.

Damaged Air Ducts

If your home’s duct system has connection issues or leaks in it then that would allow cold air from your attic or other poorly insulated places to enter into the system and make it seem like it’s your furnace blowing cold air. This does not mean that your furnace isn’t working properly, it just means that your ducts need to be sealed or repaired. A damaged duct system would result in your home’s heating system needing to work much harder than necessary to achieve results and would cause you to pay more money on your monthly utility bill.

Not all possible reasons for your furnace blowing cold air have been exhausted in the list above, but the ones listed are what is most common to find as the cause for this problem. If you have followed our advice and have still not found the solution to your problem, your next step should be to contact a trained HVAC technician to diagnose the issue and provide the best possible solution.

Get A Quote

 

If you have any further questions about your furnace blowing cold air or any of your other HVAC needs, don’t hesitate to contact DeMark Home Ontario to find the answers. We provide quick and efficient furnace service and replacement performed by our highly experienced and trained technicians. Give us a call at 647-847-2998 or fill out online request form and we will be happy to assist you with your request.

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Avoid a Damaged Furnace When Renovating Your Home

Be proactive when renovating your home to ensure you don’t end up with a renovated home, but a severely damaged furnace.

As homeowners, we all dream of renovating our homes to tailor them to our own tastes, needs, and to create the ideal home for our families and ourselves. You put a lot of money into your home renovation, so why spend even more money on repairing your furnace because of a few mistakes you make during renovation (damaged furnace).

Home renovations are often the main culprit of a broken or damaged furnace. Any construction that’s being done to your home results in an excess of debris and dust which often makes its way into your duct system, and thus into your furnace system. This excess of dust and debris means that your furnace is at a likely chance of overheating, debris-covered safety components, or ignition malfunctions.

There’s an abundance of furnace problems that can come with home renovations, but there’s a few rather simple ways that you can avoid them through proactive thinking and action.

• Talk to a professional HVAC technician

It’s well worth your time to contact an HVAC technician while you’re planning out your home renovation to confirm whether or not your home’s current heating and cooling system will work with your renovation plans and that it won’t have a negative impact on your home’s HVAC system.

•  Keep dust and debris outdoors

It’s common knowledge that home renovations create an unavoidable mess. Though this is the case, it’s often possible to keep a lot of this mess outside of the home. The last thing you want is a damaged furnace as a result of all the sawdust in your ducts and furnace.

•  Isolate the messy areas and protect the vents

We understand that oftentimes, not ALL of the mess can be kept outdoors, luckily there are some precautions you can take when the inside of your home sees some dirt and dust during home renovations. Our first tip is to place up plastic tarps around the perimeter of the dirty area, so that the dirt and dust stays in that area. Our second tip in this situation is to cover the vents in the dirty area by closing them or by placing any impermeable material over it. When covering the ducts make sure to not cover every duct in your home as this would not allow for proper air circulation and could lead to a damaged furnace.

• Take time to clean around the house as often as necessary

We’ve already established that your home is often at it’s dirtiest during renovation. It’s only logical that this would mean that you should clean around the home more often than usual to prevent dust and debris from spreading all around the house.

We recommend that during renovations you vacuum and clean up dust around the house once every 1-2 days. This will tremendously lower the chances of having a damaged furnace post-renovations, and will simultaneously create a safe and sanitary environment in your living space.

• Change the furnace filter

A dirty and clogged furnace filter is often the root to many furnace problems. A clogged furnace filter will lead to your furnace overworking itself and the heat exchanger potentially overheating. Your furnace will get especially dirty during renovation, so it’s crucially important that you check up on it frequently and change it when you notice an excess level of dirt and dust in the filter.

The general rule of thumb for furnace filters is to change them once a month, but it may be necessary to change it more frequently during home renovation.

•  Shut the furnace down

It’s best to keep your furnace shut down while renovations are being done. When air isn’t circulating through the ducts there will be less debris and dust in the system, and a smaller chance of a damaged furnace.

• Have a professional clean your duct system post-renovation

Even after taking the necessary precautions it’s likely that your duct system will have some level of dirt and dust due to your home renovations. Post-renovations is the best time to for duct cleaning in your home and will leave you worry free about the state of your furnace system and will allow you to enjoy your newly renovated home in comfort.

Get A Quote

 

If you have any further questions about your furnace and home renovation or any of your other HVAC needs, don’t hesitate to contact DeMark Home Ontario to find the answers. If you have a damaged furnace, we provide quick and efficient furnace service and replacement performed by our highly experienced and trained technicians. Give us a call at 647-847-2998 or fill out online request form and we will be happy to assist you with your request.

The post Avoid a Damaged Furnace When Renovating Your Home appeared first on DeMark Home Ontario Furnaces, A/C, Water Heaters.