Winter is descending upon your home and the temperature is dropping quickly. You turn your thermostat to heat and set it to a reasonable 72 degrees. You wake the next morning and crawl out from underneath the warm covers only to be greeted by your very cold home. You wrap yourself in a blanket and run down the hall to the thermostat. Sure enough, you set it to 72 but the heater never kicked on. You sit there and stare at the 65 degree temperature. It taunts you along with the cold stillness of your home and furnace.
There are a few common things that could be wrong with your furnace.
- The Capacitor: The capacitor of your furnace is used to start the blower. It provides a higher burst of electricity to the blower motor when it first starts. A capacitor acts as a quick release battery. Like all batteries, it eventually loses its ability to be charged and has to be replaced.
- The Blower Motor: The blower motor is a simple electric motor that spins the blades of the blower, moving air into the heat exchanger and all throughout your house. Like all motors, the bearings can eventually wear out, meaning that the motor must be replaced.
- The Blower Blades: The blower has to pull air into the system through the air filter. If the filter is not replaced regularly, then oils and dust can accumulate on the blades of the blower, slowing it down and even keeping them from turning altogether. If this happens, the blower has to be cleaned.
Bonus tip:
Most of the wear and tear on the blower can be prevented by replacing the air filter regularly and getting maintenance service from Acme AC. Maintenance and an air filter are far less expensive than having to replace any part of your furnace this winter.
