Knowing Your Furnace

Knowing your furnace can help guide you through maintenance and how crucial key component’s are important to the proper operation of your furnace.

Knowing your furnace such as the importance of keeping a clean furnace filter makes a difference between yearly maintenance and yearly repairs.

Yearly maintenance is much more cost effective by far then yearly repairs. Maintaining your furnace will help insure safe operation as well as possibly helping to avoid a furnace breakdown during the coldest days of the heating season. Anyone that has had a breakdown during the coldest days knows how difficult it can be to find a heating contractor when you need one most.

Knowing your furnace and its components may encourage you to call us when something is not working properly or for your yearly furnace maintenance. In the picture below you will find these key components that play the major roles in furnace sequences of operations.

Knowing your furnace sequence of operation can help you figure out the possible problem and this knowledge can help you relay to the heating professionals. This will help you determine a possible price for the furnace repair.

The furnace operates as follows; the thermostat calls for heat sending a signal to the circuit board stating heat is needed. The signal then flows through all the safety limits to verify that no unsafe condition is present.

After that the inducer motor starts up to verify that the flue pipe and the heat exchanger is clear of obstruction or cracks in the heat exchanger. This action is performed through the pressure switch, after the pressure switch switches, the signal is now sent to the igniter.

The igniter lights up and then the gas valve opens allowing the flow of natural gas to the burners and then intern ignites.

After ignition the the flame sensor comes into play sending a signal to the circuit control board stating keep the burners on

Because it senses the flame (the flame sensor is a safety feature) after that, about 90 seconds or so the blower motor is energized and distributes heat through out your ductwork.

This cycle is a revolving cycle and every time your thermostat calls for heat this operation occurs.

Know your furnace and this cycle, if any of these sequences do not occur then there is a problem and you may be able to trouble shoot and fix yourself. If not you may have to call Around The Town Heating And Cooling.

Thanks Big ED