Why Isn’t My Furnace Working?

Binsky HQ Piscataway, NJ
At Binsky Home, we know a common call we get from Warren homeowners is “Why won’t my furnace turn on?” So it was no surprise when Dina L., a homeowner in Warren, NJ, called saying that she had no heat because her furnace wasn’t working. To solve the mystery, we dispatched Dennis, one of our experienced technicians. When Dennis arrived, he first needed to find the cause of the “no heat” problem by performing a diagnostic. While performing a safety check, Dennis found a bad pressure switch which was stuck in the closed position. So what is a pressure switch and why would it prevent a furnace from turning on?

Pressure switch: A quick explanation

To understand this switch’s job, it helps to know how your furnace turns on:

  1. Your thermostat senses that your home’s temperature is below your set point.
  2. The thermostat calls for heat from the furnace.
  3. The furnace control board turns on the indoor draft fan (this fan’s job is to clear out old combustion gases from the heat exchanger and pull in combustion gases and air into the burners so they can ignite)
  4. When there is a correct draft pressure, the pressure switch (normally open) closes, starting the ignition process.

OK, so Dina’s problem began when this pressure switch got stuck in the closed position. Meaning that it couldn’t open and close again, which prevented the ignition process from starting and left Dina out in the cold (literally). So…

The solution: Replace the pressure switch

Dennis provided Dina with a proposal detailing the recommended options for repairing the furnace. He also asked her if she knew the maintenance history. She didn’t know. So Dennis took the time to go over the Binsky Home Partner Plan which provides seasonal maintenances, priority service, and a 10% discount on repairs. Dina thought it over and agreed to replace her pressure switch and sign up for our Partner Plan. She had also seen our New Neighbor promotion and used the coupon towards the repair. Dennis swapped out the bad pressure switch and ran the furnace to make sure everything was working properly before leaving Dina’s home. Note: Keep in mind that the cost and time to fix a furnace all depends on what’s wrong with it. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. If your furnace is having issues, the first step is always to have a professional diagnose what’s wrong. It’s just like how a doctor asks questions and diagnoses what’s wrong with you before recommending a course of treatment to remedy the problem.

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