As the temperature outside drops, you and your family depend on your furnace
to keep your home comfortably warm. Unfortunately, as reliable as your furnace
is, there are times when a malfunction can turn the warm air blowing through
your vents into cold air. If you're having this problem, don't panic, there may
be a simple solution. Below, we've listed 4 possible reasons why your furnace
is producing cold air instead of warm air.
Check Your Thermostat
If your thermostat is set to on, instead of auto, the nonstop stream of cold
air from your vents is most likely caused by the fan running constantly.
Switching the setting to auto ensures the fan only runs when your furnace kicks
on.
The Pilot Light
Older gas furnaces are usually equipped with a standing pilot light. If the
pilot light goes out, your system will blow cold air. Luckily, the instructions
on how to relight the pilot are often printed directly on the furnace. While
something as simple as a draft can cause a pilot light to go out, there are
other more serious reasons, meaning the problem may be a bad thermocouple or
low gas pressure. If you have to relight the pilot light several times during a
single winter, a call to a heating technician is warranted.
Problems With Your Ducts
The warm air created by your furnace travels through your home's duct work, unfortunately,
if the duct is poorly insulated, warm air will lose its heat and become cold
air. That cold air will end up blowing through your vents instead of the heated
air produced by your furnace. Getting a duct inspection by a HVAC technician
will identify the problem areas and what improvements need to be made to your duct system.
Dirty Flame Sensor
If a dirty flame sensor is the problem, the air coming from your furnace
will usually start off warm, but quickly turns cold. When this is the case, the
flame sensor is prematurely signaling for the burner to turn off, which causes
the air to become cold. Scheduling a yearly maintenance check-up ensures the
flame sensor is inspected and cleaned before it can become an issue.
If your furnace is blowing cold air or you simply want to schedule a yearly
inspection, please contact Blackie’s
Heating and Cooling today for help.
