Furnace Test (a 5 Minute Test)
Have you ever wondered with cold weather coming if your furnace is going to make it through the long heating run times?
Well, here’s a quick and easy way any homeowner can check to see if there are any current issues.
Please follow step-by-step as below:
- Make sure your air filter is clean or replaced and all your supply air vents are open throughout you home.
- Turn your thermostat up 5° higher than it is currently set for.
- In the basement in front of your furnace, there’s a top panel, which you can usually see the flame through, or hear the main burner running (see video or pictures). If you do not know what you’re doing, we recommend not to take off any panels call a professional as needed.
- Grab a chair and sit in front of your furnace.
- Once the furnace starts to run and the burner fires up, keep a close eye on the burners and if you can not see them, you can usually hear them running.
- With the furnace running, set your timer for 5 minutes, the furnace should keep running for 5 minutes constantly with the burners on and blower motor running constantly.
- If it trips out or the burners shut off before the five minutes and your thermostat is still calling for heat, then you have a problem. If this trips out 3 times, it usually will flash you a code on the circuit board which you can see through the bottom panel.
- The problem may consist of, and not limited to; flame failure (dirty flame sensor), pressure switch issue, high limiting, bad connection etc.
- If it is tripping out, I highly recommend calling a professional for service. If you do not address this issue, then the furnace will shut down and you may not have heat in the coming cold weather.
- This is a quick, easy way to check for issues with out pulling out tools or taking anything apart.
- Last thing…. which is important. Go and set your thermostat back down to your normal temperature. Otherwise, you will be too hot.