5 Electric Furnace Troubleshooting Tips

Technical difficulties are a pain, especially when they affect your electrical furnace during the cold of the winter. 

Many people are usually stranded and have no idea how to deal with the situation. Before they know it, they start panicking because their electric furnace won’t turn on. 

In such difficult times, you need to be able to conduct several electric furnace troubleshooting procedures. 

Don’t worry. We will carefully take you through these procedures and hopefully, revive your electric furnace. 

For your electric furnace to turn off, there has to be a problem within the unit. The problem can either be a major one or a minor hiccup that can be solved within minutes. 

Troubleshooting is all about checking your electrical furnace for any problems and running some simulations to ensure that your electric furnace is operating well. 

Therefore, we’ll start with the simple stuff as we progress to the complex processes in electric furnace troubleshooting.

We came up with a list of the five most common problems facing electric furnaces. Hopefully, your problem isn’t that serious and can be easily solved without calling in an HVAC professional. 

However, don’t be afraid to call us when things get tough. The best HVAC specialists in Phoenix are here to help. Reach out today.

5 Electric furnace troubleshooting tips

1. If your electric furnace won’t turn on

Having a furnace that won’t turn on is probably the scariest situation you can find yourself in. 

It’s true that sometimes the problem might be huge and can’t be solved without the help of a professional. 

However, you’ll be surprised by the number of times we’ve been called over by panic-stricken clients only to find the problem to be a tripped circuit breaker or a blown fuse. 

Below are steps to follow to rule out the possibility of a blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker. 

Check the electric furnace switch 

Go and confirm that the electric furnace switch is turned on. 

Who knows? Maybe somebody decided to prank you (especially those kids), or maybe you forgot to switch it on. Yes, sometimes the solution is as simple as flicking a switch. 

Check the circuit breaker

Go to the circuit breaker and make sure all switches are all turned on. 

Do this, especially if you’ve recently experienced a power surge or outage. 

However, you might find yourself in a situation where your electric furnace continually trips your circuit breaker. If that is the case, immediately switch off your electric furnace- There are underlying issues that need to be fixed. 

Check for blown fuses

Fuses are circuit components that protect your furnace from electrical damage. 

In case of an overcharge, the fuse will sacrifice itself and blow up instead of your unit. 

Try and locate where the fuse is and check if it’s blown. 

Most of the time, the fuse is located in separate circuit boxes. Do research or check your manual to find where it’s fixed. The location varies with different brands and models. 

If you’re not sure how to tell if the fuse is blown, replace it and turn on your electric furnace. 

If it turns on, then the fuse was the culprit. If it doesn’t, then it’s high time you called in an electric furnace specialist. Also, You can check our article on “What To Do When Your AC Blows A Fuse” for more information about blown fuse issues

2. If your furnace is not heating up effectively

Your electric furnace is not heating up. 

Your electric furnace seems to be running well. However, you’ve noticed that it’s no longer heating your house as effectively as it normally does- The heat is barely enough to keep you warm. 

Follow the steps below to diagnose your electric furnace. 

Adjust your thermostat

Don’t be quick to blame the entire unit. 

Start by first checking and confirming if the thermostats are in good working condition. Raise the temperature setting by a few degrees and take note if the heat produced increases or remains the same. 

If it increases, then your thermostats are fine. If the heat produced remains the same, then there must be a problem somewhere. 

Clean the filters and air ducts

Clogged filters restrict airflow. 

Maybe that’s the reason why you’re not receiving enough hot air. We do our best to remind you to always check and clean or replace your filters every month. 

Faulty fan or blower

Sorry, but you can’t solve these problems on your own. It’s best if you let us handle these faults. 

You can only count on trained and experienced HVAC professionals to diagnose and fix faulty fans and blowers. 

3. If your electric furnace is noisy 

Follow these steps after you’ve confirmed that your electrical furnace can turn on and warm your room without any technical difficulties. 

As your electric furnace is running, keenly listen for any suspicious sounds that weren’t there before. 

Please note that the majority of electrical furnaces are silent workers that barely produce any sound. 

At the very least, a noisy furnace might hint that something is loose within the unit. 

Scraping, thumping, squealing, rumbling, and banging are some of the common electric furnace noises that should warn you that something is wrong with your unit. 

Read on to understand more about some of the common causes of noisy electric furnaces.  

Below are some of the things you can do to fix a noisy electric furnace.

Check for loose AC parts

Examine your unit for any loose components and covers. 

Just to be sure, take a screwdriver or spanner and tighten the screws or nuts. 

Belt issues

In case you didn’t know, your whole-house electric furnace has a belt that connects the blower to a motor that provides the power necessary for air propulsion. 

If the belt is loose or worn out, your electric furnace will start producing weird noises. Once again, we’d advise you to let a professional do the dirty work. 

4. If the blower is running endlessly

You’ve confirmed that;

• Your furnace can turn on- Check.
• It’s able to effectively warm the house or room- Check.
• It’s able to run quietly- Check.

However, you’ve noticed that the blower won’t stop running. There are two possible culprits behind this problem.

• The wrong thermostat setting.
• A faulty relay.

The wrong thermostat setting

Maybe you set the thermostat to “on” instead of AUTO. 

Auto means that the furnace will shut down once the desired indoor temperatures are achieved. “On” means the furnace will keep running till kingdom come.

A faulty relay

A complex circuit problem that causes the blower to keep on running even after the “stop” command has been issued. 

You’re better off calling an HVAC professional unless you want to mess around with your electric furnace and permanently damage it.

Conclusion

Electric furnaces fail just like any other home appliance. This is why you have to make sure you’re always ready with some troubleshooting tips at your fingertips. 

With what we’ve just taught you, you should now be able to diagnose and fix your electric furnace should it fail in the course of duty. 

In addition to that, we’d advise you to regularly have a professional come and thoroughly service your electric furnace. 

You have no idea just how many problems you can avoid with a steady maintenance program. Check out our article about HVAC low air flow issues.