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Late Season Is No Time to Neglect Your Furnace

furnace venting outsideWhen you live in the Chicagoland area, you get used to cold weather—so used to it that it can be in the 40s and 50s and yet we’re out in shorts and T-shirts (rain pending). So when spring officially hits, most of us are more than ready to shut off our furnaces for the season and turn our attention to our cooling systems.

But, while we do encourage scheduling AC maintenance as early as possible, we also discourage you from not giving your furnace another thought before you finish using it for the season. Your furnace may be experiencing issues that require Northbrook, IL furnace repair, and ignoring those issues can lead to full system breakdown when you need your furnace next fall. Keep reading for some warning signs you should watch out for that indicate something is amiss with your furnace, and call our team right away if you notice any of them in your heating system.

Foul Odors Coming From the Vents

Musty/dusty odors coming from the vents are expected when a furnace first cycles on for the season. It’s dust from the ducts being blown into the living space and the burning of dust from along the heat exchanger. However, if this smell occurs beyond that or if it comes back later in the winter, it’s a sign that the motor is overheating, or even something more dangerous, like an electrical problem.

Constantly Tripped Circuit Breakers

Not many homeowners give much thought to the electrical power that goes into running a natural gas furnace. Yes, the gas is what supplied the heat for a furnace. Electricity, however, is needed to run other system components such as the fan, the igniter, and the limit switch. If your furnace is regularly tripping the circuit breakers, it may mean the fan motor is overburdened and is drawing on too much electricity.

Rooms Are Colder Than They Should Be

Is anyone in your household complaining that their room doesn’t seem to be getting warm enough? If you have an aging furnace, it could be that your heater is losing its efficiency and heating power.

Another possibility is that you have breached ductwork causing conditioned air to leak out. This is definitely a problem you’ll want managed right away since you’ll need proper ductwork for your cooling efforts as the weather warms.

Your Utility Bills Have Suddenly Spiked

Have you noticed a significant bump in your heating bills over a month? If you are, and you’re sure you haven’t been running the heater more often, then there might be a malfunction in the heating system that’s creating an energy drain. Our team will be able to pinpoint exactly what’s going on.

Short-Cycling

This is the name given to the process where your furnace turns on and off rapidly over a short time and doesn’t complete a full heating cycle. There are a number of potential causes for this, including poor sizing during the initial installation. Whatever the cause, however, it must be found and remedied by a professional if you have any hope of your furnace lasting through another season.

For superior heating and cooling services and products, contact Shavitz Heating and Air Conditioning today!

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