Residential Troubleshooting Tips
You can troubleshoot your equipment before you make a service call with these helpful tips. Give us a call if you need further assistance. If none of the above tips work, please contact us for a service call at (360) 426-1284 or fill out our online Service Request form.
My Furnace Is Not Working at All
Make sure that your thermostat is in the “heat” position
Make sure that the temperature that the thermostat is set at is above the indoor air temperature.
Is there power to the furnace? Check your fuse box or circuit breaker box to see if you have a blown fuse or tripped breaker. If everything checks out at your fuse box or circuit breaker box, make sure the switch at the furnace is to the on position. If the switch is on and the furnace still does not come on, check to make sure the furnace blower door is properly closed. There is a switch on the furnace door that activates the furnace, and if it is not properly set, the furnace will not activate.
My Furnace Is Not Heating Properly
There are so many reasons for a furnace not to operate properly. Here are a few things to check before calling for a service call.
There is not enough heat coming out of the register.
Check your air filter. After cleaning or replacing it and your still have a problem, you may have a blower motor going bad or something is wrong in your ductwork.
My filter is clean, but there is still not enough air flow coming through the registers.
There are three other possibilities that could be wrong still would be a dirty blower section, a plugged secondary heat exchanger, or a plugged evaporator coil. To properly clean these 3 issues, they have to be removed, disassembled, cleaned, and put back together. These issues require a qualified technician to service the equipment.
My furnace kicks on and off very often.
This is more than likely caused by one of the furnace’s limit being tripped. This can be several different problems. It can be from a dirty filter, an oversized furnace, iced over PVC venting, or even a plugged drain line. Our suggestion is to call for a service call.
My furnace makes a loud banging noise.
This is most likely caused by a delayed ignition. This is considered a dangerous situation; we suggest you call for a service call in this situation.
My furnace makes a tin can sound banging noise.
This is not related to the above problem. The main cause for this is undersized and/or faulty ductwork. We suggest that you have one of our qualified sheet metal workers reinstall some of the ductwork in your home to the correct size for proper operation.
My boiler is not providing enough heat.
Check to see if the boiler pressure is between 8 and 25 psi on the pressure dial on the boiler.
Check to make sure that the pump is turning.
Check to make sure that the pump coupler is not bad if your boiler has this style pump.
Listen to your radiators. If there is air in the system, these may need to be bled.
I Turned My Thermostat to Cool, Turned the Temperature Down, and My Air Conditioner Isn’t Turning On.
Some air conditioning units have a time delay. Some delays can last up to 10 minutes with a digital thermostat. If the air conditioning unit doesn’t start up after 10 minutes, check your fuse box for a blown fuse or your breaker box for a tripped breaker. If that checks out fine, go outside by your unit and check that the disconnect (similar to a breaker) is on.
My Air Conditioner Is Running, but I Don’t Feel Any Cold Air.
•Your refrigerant in your air conditioning system may be low. This is caused by a possible leak in your system or the unit was improperly charged. Please contact our service department for assistance.
•Your air filter on your furnace may be dirty. Check your filter and change or clean the filter if it is dirty.
My outdoor air conditioner unit is making noises.
All units are going to make noises. If it is a loud scraping noise something is wrong. It is possible that your condenser fan motor has become dislodged and is hitting the top of the unit. If that is the case, shut off the unit and contact our service department immediately for assistance.