What Is A Furnace Repair?
Furnace repairs are one of the most common home repairs done in the nation. Like cars and other mechanical devices, furnaces break down over time and need to be repaired or replaced when they can no longer properly function. When a furnace breaks down or stops working, it is good for you to know what type of repair service your furnace needs and who to call for that specific kind of work.
What Is A Furnace?
A gas furnace is a machine that uses gas as its fuel source. This type of system generally has an electric blower motor attached to fans which force air through ducts throughout your house, giving you heat via attics, soffits and baseboard heaters. They may also have a heat exchanger which transfers heat from the hot gas to the air.
The gas is brought into the furnace via a gas line or pipes and is lit by pilot lights or an electric ignition system that turns on the gas and fan motor simultaneously. If any part of this system stops working, such as no heat coming from the baseboard heaters, no hot air going out through your registers or any other problems with your heating system. A few different types of repairs can be performed depending on what has failed in your furnace.
Most Common Furnace Repairs
Most common in furnaces today is a breakdown of a blower motor in a forced-air heating system. However, some problems may also arise from electrical ignitions systems used to turn on pilot lights when needed to light your gas furnace. With these different types of repairs, it is essential to call a professional heating contractor for your furnace system, especially if the problem with your furnace is more complex or involves electrical work.
A blower motor used in forced air furnaces may need to be repaired when it fails or stops working completely. A broken fan belt may cause your furnace to stop sending heat altogether as this drives the spinning motion of the electric motor attached to the fans, which circulate hot air throughout your house. Suppose you turn on your furnace and hear a clicking or grinding noises.
In that case, this could mean something wrong inside the motor assembly, such as a loose part causing friction and, therefore, will likely need a replacement part installed before anything else can be done. Other problems that could arise from a failed blower motor include dirty or clogged air filters, which can cause the blower to heat up and melt a part of it due to the high temperatures inside the furnace. If this is not fixed quickly enough, your entire system could be damaged by excess heat buildup in your furnace.
If you have a gas furnace with electric ignition, you may need to have an electrical repair service done to get your pilot light lit again if it fails. Ignition systems for these furnaces generally use electric current from your home's wiring system, so anything from a loose connection in your fuse box up to blown fuses will stop this system from working correctly.
This causes problems when igniting heating gas from your home's natural gas line as no flame is created to start the gas-burning, so no heat is produced. Some causes of this particular furnace repair may be electrical shorts which can happen in colder climates when there is ice on your home's exterior, which causes water to drip down onto the gas line or natural gas shut-off valve, causing corrosion inside these parts of your home's system.
Replacement vs. Repairs
Sometimes, you will need to replace a new part with any heating unit if the old one has completely failed and is beyond repair. It is more common that you will need an entire furnace replaced than needing just replacing one small part but, either way, it's good to get several estimates from different service providers before deciding on whether or not this extensive work should be done by you alone or if it would be better to hire a professional furnace repair service.
Without the proper tools and knowledge to work on furnaces, you may end up breaking parts of your system that are needed to keep it running correctly, which could cost you more money in the long run than the original cost for this type of furnace repair.
Conclusion
Though these repairs can be pricey depending on what needs to be done to fix your heating unit, several heating systems can be used as replacements through gas or oil forced air systems are most commonly found throughout homes today. It is essential to decide whether or not getting this extensive work completed by a professional is better for you financially before contacting an HVAC contractor for your furnace repairs.