As the late fall chill sets in, you’ve probably already reached for the thermostat or switched on your furnace. Furnaces do a great job at keeping buildings warm, especially during brutal Pittsburgh winters. Your furnace plays a big role in your family’s comfort when the temperatures drop, so it’s natural to want to make sure you won’t have any heating problems. However, not every issue with your furnace means you should drop everything and contact emergency furnace repair services. So how can you tell when you need emergency furnace repair? Read on to find out.
Total System Failure
Sometimes, your furnace won’t turn on because your thermostat batteries might be dead, or you don’t have the thermostat settings changed to “heat.” In these cases, it’s as simple as making sure your thermostat is operating correctly. However, if the furnace is still unresponsive after you make these changes, it might be the furnace itself failing. Another red flag that you need emergency service is your furnace rapidly “power cycling” (switching from off to on rapidly as it tries to begin operation).
Visible Leaking
A leak coming from your furnace could mean that water is being redirected back into your furnace, where it isn’t supposed to be. Ignoring a leak and running the furnace anyway could cause electrical damage to your unit or even a house fire. A leak is critical to deal with right away. Contact the professionals for emergency furnace repair.
Your Pilot Light Is Yellow
If you have a gas furnace, you should make a habit of looking at the pilot light when the furnace starts up. Your furnace’s pilot light should be blue every time you check it. If it’s yellow, your furnace might have a gas leak. Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas, so you will not know you are experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning until it is too late. Turn off the furnace, get yourself and your family members out of the house, and contact an emergency furnace repair service right away.
Electrical Issues
Your furnace is designed to work with your home’s electrical system. If turning on the furnace suddenly causes your circuit breaker to trip or your other appliances to fail, there might be electrical issues with your unit. While it might just need a wire moved or a screw tightened, it’s not something to mess with. You could damage your other appliances and the rest of your home’s HVAC system. It’s best to call for HVAC emergency repair ASAP.
You Smell Gas
When you turn on your furnace for the first time in the fall or winter, it isn’t uncommon to smell some weird smells. But if the smell of gas or burning rubber persists or becomes stronger while your furnace is running during day-to-day operation, it could be an indicator you have a dangerous situation on your hands. This is another time when you need to turn off the furnace, evacuate your home, and not return until you’ve had a furnace repair professional evaluate the situation. Even if airborne gas or other chemicals don’t wind up posing an immediate risk, they negatively impact your home’s air quality — plus, it isn’t worth taking any chances.
Temperatures Are Low
If your furnace doesn’t start up in the fall, it can be an annoyance; in the middle of winter, it can be deadly. Extreme cold can kill, and sometimes it isn’t worth it to wait to schedule a repair later. If you feel like you and your loved ones can’t wait out the cold while you’re trying to book HVAC services for later in the week, you should seek emergency furnace repair instead so you can get the heat back on as soon as possible.
Next Steps
Now that you know when to call for emergency furnace repair, you might have other HVAC questions, such as how often should my HVAC be serviced, or plumbing questions such as how to keep my pipes from freezing. We have many resources for homeowners available on our website, including the answers to these and more common inquiries.
When you have a furnace repair emergency, it’s important to get help as soon as possible. Our team offers 24-hour emergency furnace repair services. Our dedicated HVAC technicians in Pittsburgh, PA, will help you and your family stay warm this winter. Are you looking to help the planet or save money on energy bills? We’ll upgrade your heating system to a more efficient or eco-friendly unit, such as a heat pump. We do more than just heating repair — we’ll service your plumbing, air conditioning, and sewer systems too. Contact us today!