Jul 17 2018 russelladmin
Why Won’t My Electric Furnace Work?

Russell's Heating and Air ConditioningElectric furnaces are common in Southern California because they can provide sufficient heat for the mild winters and don’t require a house to have a full gas hook-up. Electric furnaces are also less prone to break downs than gas furnaces, and it’s nice not to deal with those types of hassles when the heating system doesn’t need to run often.

An electric furnace can still create headaches for a home. No heating system can ever work entirely free from malfunctions! You may turn on your electric furnace to warm up your home during one of our occasional cold spells and discover you’re not getting heat. What’s wrong?

Check the circuit breaker

The furnace may not be getting any power because a circuit breaker has tripped. This is a common occurrence for a powerful electric system: the furnace has placed too much strain on the circuit and caused the breaker to trip. Reset the breaker and try the furnace again. If it trips the breaker once more, you’ve got a problem that will need electrical repair from HVAC professionals. One likely cause is a broken sequencer, which is the part of the furnace that staggers turning on the heating elements. If the heating elements all turn on at once, they’ll overload the circuit. The blower fan’s motor is another culprit leading to a tripped circuit breaker.

The issue may be with the thermostat connection

Another possibility is a lost connection to the thermostat. The thermostat controls turning on the heating elements in the furnace as well as the fan, and it uses different wires to control these parts. If the wiring trouble cuts off the connection to the heating elements, the furnace may turn on the fan only, sending out room temperature air. Technicians can look into the thermostat and the furnace to see what wiring repairs are necessary.

For fast help with needs for heating repair in Palm Desert, CA or the surrounding areas, contact our HVAC experts. They’re on call 24/7 to help you!

Russell’s Heating & Air Conditioning serves the Inland Empire and the Desert Communities.

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