Gas Furnaces Repair - Common Problems and Their Solutions

Gas furnaces use either propane or natural gas tofrom one of the above issues can usually be fixed
heat enclosed living areas. While gas is oftenon the same day at minimal cost. If a gas
talked about as an expensive means of heat, gasfurnaces repair technician indicates that the
furnaces typically burn cleaner than oil furnacesproblem stems from one of the above issues but
and therefore present their owners with lessthat some of the other issues appear immanent,
repairs than oil furnaces. But when problems dosave money and have all of them repaired in one
occur with gas furnaces, they're typically easy tovisit.
identify and aren't labor intensive to correct.A Furnace Keeps Switching On and Off
Below are four issues that commonly arise withIf your furnace switches on and then switches
older gas furnaces and what you can expect inoff before producing the desired level of heat, it
terms of repairs.likely suffers from one of the following problems:
A Furnace Produces No Heata clogged blower, a dirty filter or an overly dry
If your gas furnace produces no heat, chancesmotor. In the first case, a technician will clean out
are that it's experiencing one of the followingyour blower and its surrounding area using a
issues: a closed control valve, a blown fuse orvacuum; in the second case, the technician will
tripped circuit, a faulty thermostat or areplace your temporary air filter or clean and
non-working pilot light. While you could correctreinsert your permanent air filter; in the third
these problems yourself, it's best to call a gascase, the technician will lubricate the motor by
furnaces repair service (i.e. a heating and coolingplacing oil in the necessary oil ports. In each case,
company) if you aren't experienced with gasthe service cost should again be minimal.
furnaces. Regardless of which of the above issuesA Furnace's Pilot Light Won't Come On
your furnace is experiencing, an HVAC repairWith most furnaces, you can tell if a pilot light is
technician should be able to fix the problem on theon by kneeling to the floor and looking at the
same day, and none of the above issues willunderside of the furnace, where you'll see a small
result in a significant repair cost.blue flame emanating from a small pipe if the pilot
A Furnace Produces Insufficient Heatlight is running. A pilot light that won't light is
If your furnace has been producing less heat, itgenerally caused by one of three issues: a clogged
could be because the blower is occluded, thepilot opening, insufficient gas flow due to an
blower belt is loose or because the filter or burnerimproperly set gas valve or a damaged
is dirty. These problems can also occur in unison.thermocouple. In each case, the remedy is
As with a furnace that produces no heat, arequires light labor and can be fixed at minimal
furnace that produces insufficient heat resultingcost.