Do I Have A Broken Heater If It’s Blowing Cold Air Instead of Warm?

What to do About a Broken Heater?

There are many different reasons why a heater could be blowing cold air. Some of the problems may require a little troubleshooting, while other problems could require the help of trained professionals. If you feel cold air coming from your heater, you should check your furnace settings, make sure it is not overheating, or that you have dirty air filters. These are the most common problems that people encounter when their heater starts to blow cold air out.

Check Your Furnace Settings

Many times your problem can be fixed by checking your thermostat and furnace settings. You want to ensure that the fan is set to “auto” rather than “on”. When the thermostat is left on it will continue to blow air continuously.

The furnace may also need to just warm up a bit. The vents need to warm up a bit before you are able to fully feel the effects of the warmer temperature. This is a quick fix that can save you from major headaches down the line.

Overheated Heater

Another major cause of heater concerns could be that your heater is overheating! Your heater will provide you with many different signs that something is wrong. The first one that you may notice a burning smell coming from the vents.

This should not be confused with the smell that you get when you turn your heater on for the first time in a long time. The heater will typically turn itself off when it feels overheated. Another sign could be some strange noises that you hear during a scary movie! If the noise is louder than normal, this means that the furnace is trying too hard to generate heat.

Finally, you may notice that the furnace cycling shuts off without starting back up again. The built-in safety measures will shut the heater off if it gets too hot. This may require a quick reset, but it is probably more of an indication that there is a more consistent overheating issue to deal with.

Dirty Air Filters

Finally, dirty air filters could be the culprit behind your heater blowing cool air. A dirty air filter will block the airflow over the furnace’s heat exchanger, which will cause it to overheat. When this happens, your furnace can trip a high limit switch, which will cause the burners to shut off so that the heat exchanger doesn’t crack.

Turn off your furnace thermostat and check the furnace filter. If you are comfortable changing them yourself, this would be the time to do so. If not, please call us to help replace those dirty air filters which will also help purify the air in your house.

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