Common Heater Repairs for Heat Pumps and Furnaces

Your heating system should keep you warm and comfortable throughout the winter season. The excessive summer of your HVAC system may cause fatigue of the heating components and whether you are proactively tackling heating maintenance or find yourself coming home to a broken heating system, here are some early warning signs and symptoms you can look out for to keep your heater running smoothly and save money on your utility bills.

Common Symptoms of a Broken Heater 

Furnaces and heat pumps are fairly complex machines of electrical and mechanical parts and heating systems can have one independent component fail or multiple shut downs at once. Diagnosing a broken heating system starts by listening to its initial symptoms. Whether you have a gas powered furnace or gas pack or an all-electric heat pump heater, here are the common symptoms you might find if you suddenly experience your heater not working.

1. Your heater is blowing cold air 
2. Your heater or fan never shuts off and runs constantly 
3. The heater never turns on 
4. The heater runs for 5 seconds then shuts off 
5. The thermostat doesn’t turn on

Common Symptoms the Heater Has A Slower Chronic Problem That Can Be Proactively Addressed 

Often our technician’s catch emerging problems before they cause bigger and more expensive problems, some of the symptoms of an overworked heating system are below.

1. Your heating bill is increasing with no lifestyle changes on your part
2. You experience unpleasant smells
3. You experience inconsistent temperatures from room to room
4. You hear weird sounds coming from the unit
5. The system is loud when it turns on

Air Conditioners and Heaters In Arizona Can Have These Problems If You Notice The Heater Is Not Working 

Heating and air conditioning repairs in Arizona homes stem from several common problems. 

1. Clogged filter. I hate to list this one, but sometimes it’s as easy as turning your system off and changing your filter to get your heater working properly again. Before you make a heating repair call, check your filters if possible and change them out if needed. Speaking of clogged filters, read why other restrictions could also cause your heater to stop working and actually blow cold air out of your vents in the winter. 
2. Bad fan motor. A bad fan motor can cause the heater not to work and can be caused by a bad fan relay, where the contacts inside the relay get stuck open and go bad. Having to replace a fan relay is much less expensive than the fan motor and a good heating and cooling technician will be able to tell the difference and not turn a potentially easy fix into a complicated on. A bad capacitor can also cause the fan motor from running and providing the home with heat. Fan motors in general can also just go bad due to the motor burning up or the bearings seizing. 
3. Bad capacitor. Capacitors store energy for the compressor and fan to run and is made up of dielectric plates with an oil in-between the plates. Over time, the capacitors deteriorate and their rated capacity diminishes. Once the capacitor goes bad, your heater will not work because the fan motor will not run. 
4. Bad reversing valve. Reversing values are only found in heat pumps and reverse the flow of refrigerant depending if you are heating or cooling the home. A bad reversing value in the heating season can often be confused with a compressor failure. Again, a costly mistake on the heating and cooling technicians’ part. A reversing value may be stuck in the heating or cooling position due to a bad solenoid which would cause your heater to not blow hot air in the winter. 
5. Burnt or faulty electrical wiring. Bad thermostats, poor splice connections or loose wires can also be the culprit in your heater’s problems. A line by line electrical check can diagnosis if any wires have gone bad in the heating and cooling system. 
6. Bad pressure switches, pressure sensors, limit switches, or flame sensors on gas furnaces. On furnaces good technicians will be able to diagnose these problems by simply reading the blink code through the panel sight glass. This saves time to diagnosis the heater problems and cuts much of the trouble shooting time exponentially lower. 
7. Low Freon charge on heat pumps. A refrigerant leak will cause your thermostat to never satisfy and your home will never reach it’s set-point. If you set the house temperature to 72 degrees in the winter, but it only reaches 68, and the unit keeps running, you may have a refrigerant leak. Refrigerant leaks can occur slowly over time but once the refrigerant gets low enough that you start having comfort problems, the size of the hole has increased also and rate of loss also increases. When refrigerant leaks occur, it’s best to have a technician perform a pressurized leak test to find the source and seal it up to avoid damaging the compressor in the future.

If you are looking for heating and air conditioning repair contractors in the Phoenix area chances are you need fast service to get your system working again. For fast, reliable service call Green ID 24/7 at 602-​926-1650. Our technicians are trained to never over-sell repairs, in most cases a quick repair is all that’s required to get the system back in working condition. Mention this blog for a 10% discount off any repairs and call (602) 926-1650 today.