OIL & GAS FURNACE REPAIR SERVICES

Furnace is Producing Odors

It is not abnormal for a furnace to produce odors when it’s turned on for the first time during the fall. When a furnace is not active for a couple of months, a collection of dust and dirt will settle on internal parts such as the gas burners or thermocouple. The excess dirt will cause a burning odor to form when your furnace is used for the first time in the winter. This odor will start to disappear in a couple of minutes. If the odor does not disappear, you will be required to perform an inspection of your furnace.

If you notice an odor near your furnace that resembles burning plastic or metal, this is a sign of a malfunctioning motor, ineffective wiring, or broken bearings. On the other hand, the source of the burning plastic odor may be a toy or food in your air ducts. The only way to eliminate this type of odor is to have your ductwork cleaned by a licensed technician. The worst odor a furnace may produce is a rotten egg or sulfur smell. If you notice an odor that is similar to rotten eggs, this is an indicator of a loose gas connection or a natural gas leak.

To avoid Carbon Monoxide poisoning and negative health consequences, evacuate your property and call a licensed plumber to perform a furnace repair. Another type of furnace odor to be familiar with is a musty smell. A musty odor can be caused by a contaminated air filter or bacteria growth on the evaporator coils in your furnace. If you need assistance diagnosing a furnace odor, give our team of licensed contractors a call by phone at (302) 367-7915. We offer furnace repair services in areas such as Upper Darby, Easton, Dover, Ardmore, Drexel Hill, and Wilmington. Our team of technicians has the tools and equipment required to fix your furnace.

Strange Noises

The furnace in your household should not produce a rumbling noise at the end of a heating cycle. If your furnace is creating a rumbling sound when a heating cycle is over, this is a sign of burning gas in the combustion compartment when the gas burners are off. Other types of problems that may be responsible for rumbling noises include damaged pilot lights, flame sensors, and gas burners.

Do not ignore a squealing noise in your furnace. The source of this type of sound may be an insecure belt or a broken blower motor. On the other hand, a furnace may produce a loud popping noise due to excess dirt and dust in the gas burners. The easiest way to eliminate popping sounds is to hire a licensed technician to clean and lubricate the parts in your furnace. In addition, popping sounds can also be caused by the expansion of the metal air ducts behind your walls.

The metal naturally expands and produces popping sounds as the warm air hits the cold metal air ducts. Another type of sound to be familiar with is a grinding noise in your furnace. If your furnace is creating a grinding sound, this is a sign of high friction between the bearings in the system. The quickest way to eliminate this noise is to hire a licensed contractor to lubricate the bearings. Our team of licensed technicians offers trustworthy furnace repair and maintenance services to houses in areas such as Newark, Elkton, Conshohocken, Denton, and Upper Darby. Give our certified technicians a call by phone at (302) 367-7915 to receive help with a problem. We stock and distribute parts for a large number of furnace brands and models.

No Warm Air

The air filter in your furnace is designed to extract dust, dirt, hair, bugs, and contaminants from the air before it is distributed to each room in your house. An air filter should be replaced at a minimum of one time during the winter. To maintain warm air in your home, industry experts recommend replacing the air filters once a month. When an air filter becomes covered in dust and dirt, less air is able to pass through the filter to the air ducts.

Once an air filter becomes dirty, the heat will become trapped in the furnace. If the dirty air filter is not replaced, the furnace will become overheated and will shut down. Since the warm air is trapped inside the furnace, you will start to notice cold areas in your house. On the other hand, the circulation of cold air in your house can be caused by an absence of flames in your furnace. The flames in a furnace are responsible for igniting the incoming natural gas to produce heat. If there are no flames, the fan in the furnace will distribute cold air to each room in your home.

Older furnaces are equipped with a standing pilot light. This is a small flame that is continuously active to ignite the gas from the gas valve. If the pilot light is blown out, the furnace will not be able to create and circulate warm air on your property. The latest energy-efficient furnaces feature an electronic ignition system that is designed to ignite the pilot light when the furnace is activated. Once the flames are produced, the pilot light is deactivated to save energy. If the electronic ignition is broken, the furnace will not be able to produce flames and heat. If the air exiting your vents is cold, give our staff a call by phone at (302) 367-7915 to receive help. Our team of certified technicians has the tools required to fix a damaged electronic igniter and perform a furnace repair.

Furnace is Rapidly Turning On & Off

Your furnace will cycle on and off a couple of times each hour to maintain the temperature on the thermostat. The average heating cycle will vary from 10 to 15 minutes depending on the insulation in your walls and the temperature outside. If your furnace is shutting off in 5 minutes or less, this is a sign of an overheating problem. A furnace is equipped with a safety switch that is designed to stop the heating cycle when the interior temperature of the furnace becomes too warm.

An ordinary problem that can cause a furnace to become too warm is a clogged air filter. If there is a large collection of dust and dirt on the air filter, the warm air will struggle to reach your air ducts and will become trapped in the furnace. The easiest way to prevent your furnace from shutting off prematurely is to replace your air filter. If replacing the air filter does not stop your furnace from continuously shutting down, the next step to resolving this furnace repair issue is inspecting the flame sensor.

The flame sensor is engineered to detect flames in your furnace when the gas valve is opened. If a flame is not detected, the flame sensor will cancel the heating cycle and shut the gas valve to prevent a gas leak in your house. As your furnace reaches the middle of its life cycle, the flame sensor can become covered in dirt, dust, or bacteria. The layer of dirt will prevent the flame sensor from registering the flame. Since the flame sensor is not able to detect the flame, it will close the gas valve and cause the furnace to deactivate.

Fan

The furnace is equipped with a fan that is engineered to push air into the gas burners to create flames. Next, the heat produced by the burners is distributed to the heat exchanger. Once the heat energy arrives at the heat exchanger, poisonous gases are extracted and removed through an exhaust pipe.

Gas Burners

The gas burners in a furnace are a set of compartments that are designed to safely manage the flames. Gas burners are integrated with an electronic igniter, flame sensor, and gas valve to monitor and regulate the flames. When the temperature of your house becomes too low, the thermostat distributes an electrical signal to the control panel inside the furnace.

Next, the ignition switch is activated to start the heating cycle. Once a furnace has been activated, a gas valve will open to circulate natural gas to the gas burners. Next, the gas is ignited by a standing pilot light or electronic igniter to create flames in the gas burners. If the flame sensor is unable to detect flames, it will shut the furnace off to prevent a gas leak. Is your furnace struggling to produce flames? Give us a call by phone at (302) 367-7915 to schedule a furnace repair service. We will improve the efficiency of your furnace by removing dirt and dust from the gas burners.

Heat Exchanger

A furnace features a series of metal pipes that receive the heat from the gas burners. Once the gas is ignited in the heat exchanger, the metal pipes will become warm and transmit heat energy to the incoming cold air. An ordinary cause of gas leaks and furnace repair issues is a cracked heat exchanger. As the heat exchanger becomes older, cracks and holes can allow natural gas to escape into the air of your home. If you feel sick or notice the smell of rotten eggs on your property, this is a sign of a broken heat exchanger.

Exhaust Pipes

If your furnace uses natural gas to create heat energy, it will produce dangerous combustion gases. To protect your family from gas poisoning, the heat exchanger in your furnace is connected to a steel exhaust pipe that removes hazardous gases from your house. Depending on the efficiency of your furnace, the exhaust gases may be routed to the outdoor air through polypropylene pipes.

As you use your furnace each year, the gas connections to the exhaust pipes can become loose. In addition, cracks and holes can form on the pipes as they become older. The only way to prevent a gas leak is to call a licensed technician on our team to inspect the exhaust pipes and perform a furnace repair service. We offer heating and air conditioning repair services to homeowners in locations such as Drexel Hill, Abington, Easton, Wilmington, Upper Darby, Newark, and Conshohocken. Give us a call at (302) 367-7915 to schedule an inspection of your blower motor, heat exchanger, or gas burners.