This is a question that homeowners often ask HVAC technicians, and it makes sense that they would. There are many home repairs you can manage on your own with the right tools and a bit of know-how. Why wouldn’t this also apply to a home heater?
But a heating system isn’t the same as reattaching kitchen cabinet doors! Modern heating systems are complex, and because of the amount of power they require to run—often burning natural gas to generate heat—trying to repair them without professional training and equipment is risky.
So the simple answer is, No, there aren’t any heating repairs you can do yourself.
You don’t need to despair, for two reasons. First, you aren’t powerless to correct some heating problems through basic troubleshooting. Second, if you do need work that goes beyond troubleshooting, you can call our technicians for effective and fast heater repair in Levittown, PA. We’re available for emergency repairs 24/7, 365 days of the year.
“So what can I do to fix my heater?”
If you do run into troubles with your heater, whether it’s poor heating, inconsistent heating, or no heating at all, you can go through several steps to find out if the problem is a simple one. These basic problems often deceive people into thinking there is a catastrophic problem with their furnace. We want to stress that none of these steps are “repairs.” They don’t require opening up the heating system and using tools.
Follow along and we’ll go through these troubleshooting steps that may save you making a repair call:
- Make sure your house has power. During the day, you might miss a general power outage and think that the heater has failed. (Yes, gas furnaces and gas boilers require electricity to run!)
- Examine the thermostat settings. Sometimes an older program may have activated and stopped the heater from turning on at the right times. Someone else in the house may have changed the settings. If the thermostat is blank, it probably needs new batteries.
- Go to the electrical panel for the house and check to see if any of the circuit breakers have tripped. If they’re accurately labeled, you’ll be able to tell if the heating system’s breaker has tripped. If your heater continues to trip the circuit breaker after you’ve reset it, please call for HVAC technicians to find out what malfunction with the heater is causing the circuit overload.
- If you have a forced-air heating system (furnace, heat pump), check on the air filter. The air filter needs to be changed every one to three months or else it will become so clogged that it will hinder the heater’s performance. A clogged filter can lead to inferior heating and may cause the system to overheat and shut down.
- Check that the door to the HVAC cabinet is firmly latched. As a safety precaution, the heater may not run if the door is loose.
Now that you’ve gone through these steps, it’s time to call the Dowd experts! We’ll get your home comfort restored.
Trust Dowd Mechanical Heating & Air Conditioning with your heating repairs: A Degree Above the Rest.
