Thayer Air Conditioning Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Heating System Repair’

How to Troubleshoot a Failed Furnace

Monday, January 23rd, 2023
furnace-with-man-working-on-it

It’s a cold day and your furnace won’t turn on. That’s a big problem, and you’ll want to get it remedied as fast as possible. Fortunately, you can sometimes solve the trouble on your own if you follow several troubleshooting steps.

But, before we get into the main subject of this post, we want to issue a major warning:

Do not attempt to repair your furnace on your own!

The advice we’re giving in this post is how to figure out if there’s a simple error that caused your furnace to stop working. None of these steps involve taking out tools and opening up your furnace’s cabinet to tinker around. Only HVAC professionals have the qualifications, tools, and training to handle actual furnace repairs. Amateur work not only threatens to further damage the furnace, but it’s also potentially hazardous! If following these troubleshooting steps doesn’t get your furnace back to work, just call our team for fast and effective heating repair in San Antonio, TX.

Now, on with the troubleshooting…

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Why Are Cracked Heat Exchangers Serious Problems for Gas Furnaces?

Monday, December 12th, 2022
furnace-burners-small

You may have heard about “cracked heat exchangers” in gas furnaces as one of the major problems these heating systems can have. What does this mean, and how can you protect yourself from it? Below, we’ll look into the problem of a cracked heat exchanger.

The Heat Exchanger Itself

You may not know what a heat exchanger is to begin with, so we’ll start there. The heat exchanger is the component in a gas furnace that does the direct heating of the air that moves into the ductwork. The heat from the gas burners can’t come into direct contact with the air because of the combustion gas, so the heat exchanger serves as the intermediate step. The hot combustion gas from the burners collects inside the metal chambers of the heat exchanger and raises the temperature of the metal. The blower then sends air around the exchanger and the heat transfers from the metal surface to the air. Once the heating cycle is complete, the remaining combustion gas in the exchanger exits the furnace and the house through a flue.

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Can I Repair My Failed Gas Furnace on My Own?

Monday, March 7th, 2022
service-technician-testing-furnace

Heating is an essential part to the overall livability of a home, and is thus a top priority for many homeowners. In this way, it’s also something that many individuals approach with great urgency upon the need for repair.

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How to Avoid an Emergency Mid-Season Heating Replacement

Monday, February 7th, 2022
basement-furnace

The heating system in your home is specifically designed for maintaining a comfortable climate in your home. It is highly important that you care and maintain it regardless of the weather.

When your heating system breaks down mid-season or when you least expect it, you end up spending more than necessary.

Our service techs will help out with your heater installation in Schertz, TX, while also helping with regular maintenance.

Follow our proper heating system care tips to prevent emergency breakdown.

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Top Signs Your Home’s Furnace Is in Trouble

Monday, January 24th, 2022
basement-furnace

Have you ever heard your furnace making strange noises and wondered what is happening? Did you ever think it could stop functioning?

Having a properly working heating system is always a priority to many homeowners. If you see signs that your furnace is struggling to work, it could be headed to a bigger problem like breaking down. To ensure your loved ones are safe and to lower your energy bills, you’ll need an expert.

Here you will learn signs that your home’s furnace is in trouble. If you notice any of these signs, call furnace repair in Bulverde, TX.

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Never Hesitate to Call Us to Repair Your Heater—Here’s Why

Monday, December 13th, 2021
wrenches

When you live in a place that has a warm climate through much of the year, like San Antonio, it becomes easy to dismiss problems with a home heating system or delay calling technicians to repair it. You imagine you won’t need the heater in a few days anyway, so maybe you can just coast through until then: get out a space heater, put on a jacket indoors, etc. 

We work with heating repair in Bulverde, TX, and we can tell you that delaying getting a heater fixed is not a good idea. Procrastination when it comes to repairing a major appliance in your home rarely turns out well! We’ll look over some specific reasons to never hesitate to call us when you have a faulty heating system.

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Be Cautious About Furnace Problems This Time of Year

Monday, March 8th, 2021
furance-checked-by-technician

We made it through a very cold February, and now many of us are hoping we’ll have an easy shot right to spring. It might happen. Or we might have more cold weather and need our heating systems working for a few more weeks. This is one of the reasons it’s still important to pay attention to your home’s furnace.

We always stress with customers that when a heating system needs a repair, it doesn’t matter the time year it is: the repair must be scheduled as soon as possible. For a gas furnace, it’s especially important because it has the potential to become hazardous if malfunctions are ignored. Even though it’s March, keep an eye out for furnace problems at this time so you can move fast to have them taken care of.

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It’s COLD: Can You Trust Your Home’s Heating System?

Monday, February 22nd, 2021
woman-freezing-cold

So, how was your week?

Dealing with a combination of cold weather and the extensive loss of power in areas of New Braunfels and Comal County was rough for many people, and all of us here at Thayer hope you and your family made it through this time in safety. We’ve been busy helping out with heating emergencies to make sure our customers stay warm. If you have any need for heating repair in Schertz, TX or the rest of our service area, give us a call—it’s our job to see to your comfort!

Now … let’s talk a bit about heating system reliability. We’re sure that’s probably on your mind.

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Ways a Faulty Thermostat Can Affect Your Home Heating

Monday, February 8th, 2021
technician-with-thermostat

We enjoy mild winters here in Texas, with some occasional cold snaps where we’re thankful to have central heating systems. Because we don’t rely as heavily on our heaters as our neighbors to the north do, we can often coast along with a basic setting on the thermostat during the days and a lower temperature at night and not have to worry about the heating system needing to turn on too often. 

But your heating in San Antonio, TX can start to suffer if the thermostat isn’t working right. Thermostat troubles are often easy to overlook: a homeowner may assume that some of the problems listed below are troubles from inside the heating system itself. This is why it’s important to only call on HVAC professionals when you have heating issues. Our technicians can determine what kind of malfunction is harming your home comfort. If it turns out the thermostat is at fault, we’ll have an easier repair or replacement to take care of that will get your comfort back to normal.

The Impact of a Malfunctioning Thermostat

Thermostats can fail in several ways, from the simplest of manual models to the most complex new smart thermostats with Wi-Fi connections. 

The most common thermostat malfunction is a basic miscalibration. All thermostats have a temperature sensor that reads the air temperature near the center of the house to estimate how warm the building is in general. If the thermostat is miscalibrated, it will either sense the house as warmer or cooler than it actually is, and the house won’t be able to reach your desired temperature. The thermostat will shut the heater off too soon or allow it to run too long. If you find that you’re adjusting the thermostat often when this wasn’t normally a problem, it may mean that the thermostat needs professionals to recalibrate it. (We recommend replacing old manual thermostats that use a mercury sensor; these are out-of-date units.)

A loss of connection to the heater is another problem thermostats have—and it isn’t as easy to diagnose as you might think. Thermostats have multiple wires connecting to the control board of the HVAC system: separate wires to turn on and off the heating system and to turn on and off the blower fan. If one of these wires fails, it means the heater or blower fan won’t respond or won’t shut off. Let a technician determine what’s wrong and how it can be fixed. 

Thermostats can pick up ghost readings that are similar to a miscalibration, except in this case the issue is a hot or cold anomaly outside of the thermostat. If the heating system seems to be turning on and off at odd times, check to see that the thermostat isn’t exposed to a draft (such as an open window) or a new heat source like a lamp or an appliance. A thermostat that was poorly located in the first place may have direct sunlight affecting it. 

No matter the thermostat problem or other HVAC issue that’s hurting your winter comfort, put your trust in our team.

At Thayer Air Conditioning, “Your comfort is our #1 priority!” Call us when you need heating service—we’re already on the way!

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Why Does My Furnace Turn On and Off So Often?

Monday, January 25th, 2021
furnace-isolated-white

During our mild winter months when you run the furnace to keep your household warm, you’ll become used to a standard pattern for how the HVAC system turns on and off. You’ll hear the blower fan come on, then the furnace burners ignite, and the rush of heated air pushed through the ductwork. After fifteen minutes or more, the furnace will then start cycling down, turning off the burners and eventually the fan. When the temperature begins to fall below the setting on the thermostat, the HVAC system will begin another heating cycle.

This is the normal behavior you’re used to from the furnace and probably don’t pay much attention to it. But if the furnace breaks this pattern and begins to turn on and off with greater frequency, you may notice. And then you may wonder: is this a problem?

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