Forced air furnaces are an incredible piece of machinery that does a great job heating your home. They are also known for being an extremely durable product too. They are however not indestructible and like any other appliance they can have problems with them from time to time. The following are some of the more common furnace problems and their solutions.
Low air flow through the system
There are few things in a forced air furnace that are more important than air flow; it is what moves the heat that is produced into the various part of your home or business and also it is a necessary part of the combustion process to produce heat. If the air flow in your furnace is diminished then it will either run inefficiently or not run at all.
Low air flow is usually a simple problem to correct because most likely it is just a dirty air filter. Check them to see if this is the case and then replace or clean them as necessary if they are indeed found to be the problem. Furnace problems like this can be avoided with proper routine maintenance.
Burner will not light
If your furnace flame does not light then obviously it cannot produce the heat that you require in your home or business. Without a flame, your furnace may run but blow cold air. Two things could cause a pilot light to not ignite: either there is a problem with the gas or oil line pressure or the igniter on the system is not working.
For the gas or oil pressure you first need to know if your tank is empty or not and if you have fuel you will next have to check to see if it is going through the system with the proper pressure. If the gas or oil line pressure is okay then you must next turn your attention to the igniter. If the igniter does not glow when the system starts it most likely means it’s defective and will have to be replaced. This is one of the more common furnace problems when the system starts to age.
No air flow through the system
As was mentioned before air flow is a big deal in any forced air furnace. When it stops completely obviously the system will not work at all. When air flow gets low it’s usually the filters getting dirty which is an easy fix but that is not the same case when the air flow stops completely. This type of problem is most likely a defective blower motor.
A blower motor is responsible for moving air in and out of the system and it is constantly running; that is why it is one of the more common furnace problems. There are not many parts on the motor than can be changed so it usually needs to be replaced if it goes bad.
Of course a forced air furnace has thousands of parts and any one of them can become a source of furnace problems but this list has some good examples of the most common ones.