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5 Troubleshooting Techniques for Furnace Failure

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Man repairing furnace

Is your furnace giving you a run for your money? Does it refuse to maintain a consistent climate or stay on? Is your home’s temperature getting lower but your utility bill is getting higher?

Before you call in the professionals and perhaps, unnecessarily cost yourself more hard-earned money, take a look at this list of troubleshooting techniques, compiled by the pros!

1. Check the Thermostat

Step one, as simple as it may seem, is to ensure your thermostat is on the correct setting and is set to at least 5 degrees above room temperature. This may sound self-explanatory, but plenty of calls have been made without first checking this important factor of thermostat functionality.

Depending on how your thermostat is powered, it may require new batteries. Is there a low-battery notification? Try inserting a new battery, increasing the temperature or setting, and listening for the system to ignite.

You may also need to open the thermostat face or door and blow on the inside, to loosen any debris or dust that may have clogged it. There is also the possibility that the thermostat’s wiring has loosened with time. Be very careful when adjusting or moving the wires as they are running with electricity. If the wires are loose, just turn the power off to that part of the room or turn off the breaker entirely to appropriately move them without injuring yourself.

2. Check the Furnace Filter

It is best practice to check and replace your furnace filter regularly because normal use results in a build-up of dirt and dust, which impedes proper airflow and can release unhealthy pathogens into the air during use. A clogged furnace filter can even become a fire hazard. If maintenance and/or replacement has been neglected, your furnace filter should be one of the first things you check.

To begin this essential process, turn off your thermostat or locate your furnace switch (see below) and ensure power flow is cut off. Hold your furnace filter up to a light. If you are unable to see light through it, the time has come for a replacement. When installing a new furnace filter, ensure the arrows are in the correct direction (lined up with airflow). Set a reminder to check your furnace filter every 30 days.

3. Check Electrical Panel or Furnace Switch

Does your furnace have an on/off switch nearby? It’s possible it was accidentally bumped and therefore turned off.

Additionally, if your thermostat is not battery-run, but rather is connected to your home’s electrical system, it is a beneficial idea to check the electric panel or breaker box for a power source problem.

First, ensure that power is flowing to the breaker or fuse box. Then, if your system is properly labeled, check to see that the HVAC breaker is on. If so, it is advisable to turn it off and on again (you should hear a “click”) as this may reset the power flow. If you are not able to locate proper labels in the fuse box, look for the breaker switch that is facing the opposite direction as the remaining switches. This is most likely the source of the issue. Flip this switch in the same direction as the others, and refer back to your thermostat for any change in activity.

4. Check Furnace Flame

The color of your furnace’s flame is an important indicator of your furnace’s proper functioning. The flame should be bright blue, with a tip of yellow on the top of the flame.

To check the flame’s color, begin by removing the furnace cover panel to expose the burner assembly and pilot. You may need to relight the pilot. Refer to your furnace’s manual before attempting to do this, and make sure to turn off gas flow for 10-15 minutes before proceeding.

Caution: if you smell gas, do not continue. This could be a sign of a gas leak, for which you will need to evacuate all persons from the home.

If the flame is any other color than described above, contact a professional right away. This is beyond a simple DIY fix.

5. Check Vents and Registers

It is possible that your furnace is running properly, but the airflow in your home has been restricted or cut off to some rooms in particular. Inspect each room of the house to ensure that the supply and return grills are open, unobstructed, and unclogged.

It is not a good idea to intentionally close vents in certain rooms or have any furniture, rugs, or belongings close to the grills. Not only will these practices not save money, but they can also be extremely unsafe and eventually cause problems for your heating system.

Call the Professionals

If your furnace continues to cause trouble, is leaving you out in the cold, or is responsible for high utility bills, it may be time to get the professionals involved. Contact WM Buffington in Highspire, Pennsylvania for all your HVAC needs. We are dedicated to providing high-quality services for both residential and commercial spaces in Central Pennsylvania. You can trust our extensively trained technicians to take care of your furnace and other projects that come up.

How to Minimize Energy Loss in Air Ducts

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Man inspecting air duct system in home

Everyone wants to save money on energy bills, and your air ducts could be the cause of large invoices from your energy company.

How is this possible? My air ducts could be causing an energy loss? Aren’t they mean to direct airflow to the appropriate rooms?

Yes, your air ducts are made to navigate airflow from your central HVAC system to various rooms in your home. But, your current air duct system may not be optimal for energy saving. You could be losing anywhere from 25 to 40 percent of energy in your current air duct system, averaging a 30 percent loss.

By having a loss of airflow, you might crank up your HVAC system to kick out more air. Doing so will raise your energy cost.

If only 70 percent of your airflow is reaching the appropriate rooms in your home, where is the remaining airflow going? It could be exiting the air duct system through leaks or the lost air just might not be making it to any of the rooms.

Here are some tips from a professional HVAC company to help you save money on your energy bills.

Seal Leaks

Your air duct system might have leaks. Over time, the seal can become loose or expand, which can lead to holes or patches where your air duct meets the wall. This obviously isn’t ideal and should be sealed up right away.

You can perform a visual inspection of your air ducts to source these leaks and seal them up yourself.

The best way to seal up your air duct leaks is with duct sealants like mastic, butyl tape, aluminum foil tape, or other heat-approved tapes. If you do use a sealant like mastic, it’s a very messy project so be sure to cover the ground and use old clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty.

Insulate Air Ducts

Parts of your air duct system might not be properly insulated or insulated at all. If your air ducts run through uncooled or unheated parts of your home, your HVAC could work overtime to bring the wanted temperature to your rooms.

This happens when the ambient temperature (the temperature of the surrounding environment where equipment is stored) of these parts of your home doesn’t match the rest of the home, affecting those areas with air ducts.

You can insulate the entire air duct system or those parts where the temperature differs. This requires entering the unseen area for the air ducts and insulating the ducts with metal framed foil-faced fiberglass insulation. You can try DIY or call a professional HVAC service like WM Buffington to install this insulation in the proper areas.

Reroute Air Ducts

It’s entirely possible that you might want to consider rerouting your air ducts. Air resistance is prominent in ductworks. This is known as drag; when air is opposed to friction, causing the resistance. Drag can be reduced by:

  • Smoothing out the inner surfaces of the air ducts.
  • Rounding sharp corners for easy passage.
  • Expanding the diameter of the air ducts.
  • Reduce the number of bends in the duct system to improve air velocity.

Reconstruct Air Ducts

The most expensive option would be to reconstruct the air duct system entirely, or just certain parts of it. If it’s actually your air duct system that is causing the high energy bills, a reconstruct could be necessary. Most modern homes have optimal ductworks, but older homes may not have been constructed with the most energy-efficient ductwork navigation.

If your energy bills are still high after making any of these updates to your air ducts, there may be an issue with your HVAC system. Before you start on an air duct project, consult a local HVAC company to perform an inspection of your equipment and the structure of your air duct system.


WM Buffington serves Central Pennsylvania homeowners and businesses with the most trustworthy HVAC services. We are very knowledgeable in air duct structure and inspections to discover and fix the real issue that’s driving up your monthly costs. Give us a call today to help save you money on your energy bills.

What is the Difference Between a Boiler and Furnace?

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Man repairing a furnace

No, boilers and furnaces aren’t the same.

That’s the simplified answer to the common question, “Are furnaces and boilers the same heating system?”

Many homeowners and residents aren’t aware that, while furnaces and boilers are similar in the fact that they are central heating systems that heat the living space, they are completely different in how they heat the home.

At WM Buffington, we want to help educate homeowners so they can be better equipped when answering questions from HVAC professionals. When you’re having heating problems and the HVAC technician asks you, “Do you have a furnace or a boiler?”, you should know the answer.

This article will not only help you to understand the difference between boilers and furnaces, but will help you in troubleshooting heating issues in your home due to the type of central heating system you have.

What is a Boiler?

Bryant central heating boiler system

A boiler (aka hydronic heat system) uses hot water to pump heat into your living space through small pipes. These pipes are connected throughout your home. The hot water pumped through the pipes is distributed to baseboard heaters, cast iron radiators, or radiant flooring systems. This is how the boiler system heats an entire house through proper heat distribution.

Boilers are more expensive than furnaces since they are a better year-round heating system. What makes boilers better than furnaces?

  • They efficiently pump heat into your home, not leaving any area cold.
  • Boilers can run on gas, oil, electricity, or other alternative fuels.
  • Boiler systems tend to only need annual maintenance rather than regular repairs. Repairs and maintenance are more affordable.
  • Your energy bills are lower.

What is a Furnace?

Brant gas furnace central heating system

Again, a furnace (aka forced air furnace) is also a central heating system, however, furnaces blow hot air into the living space.

Gas, oil, and electric furnaces force air to come into the living space through air ducts. Essentially, the furnace uses a heat exchanger to heat the air. The heated air is then disbursed throughout the house using blower fans to push the air through the ducts. This can leave the air dry and prompts allergies, but can be a great central system to heat up the house during the cold seasons.

Maintenance for furnaces is a bit more regular as it’s recommended to replace the furnace’s air filters every month or yearly quarter. Other maintenance fees could be more expensive than that of a boiler system, but it depends on the maintenance project.

What’s the difference between boilers and furnaces? Boilers use a network of pipes throughout the home to pump heated water, mediating the proper temperature in the home. Furnaces push hot air throughout the home through blower fans, causing bursts of hot air to come into the home.

Choosing Between a Boiler and a Furnace

We’ve listed some pros and cons to boilers and furnaces above, and each central heating system serves a purpose. If you already have a furnace installed in your home and you’re looking at installing a boiler system, this can become very spendy.

Homes that weren’t built with a boiler system need the boiler and piping installed throughout the home. Heated floors, baseboards, or cast iron radiators must be installed for proper heating. If your home was already designed with an air duct system, then it’s probably best to get your furnace repaired or to install a new furnace.

Installing a new boiler system could prove difficult and would take some time in the case that the house doesn’t have a boiler system already.

If you’re really looking to choose between a boiler and a furnace, contact WM Buffington. We can assess the proper central heating system for you or recommend a ductless mini-split system depending on your needs. If you require an installation of a furnace or boiler, come to us and we’ll install it right the first time.

8 Tips: How to Make Your Harrisburg Home’s Air Safer

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Woman sitting on couch breathing safe air

Did you know we spend 90% of our time indoors? According to a study conducted from Velux, 82% of people believe that they only spend 18% of their time indoors.

Think about it. We live, sleep, and eat in our homes. We spend at least 8 hours per day in our homes alone just to sleep.

We have to breathe in order to live, so all of the oxygen, pollutants, and microorganisms that live in our homes are inhaled day in and day out.

Think your air is clean? Indoor air can be up to 5 times more contaminated than outdoor air.

Why is this? Because it’s essentially a box that contains all air unless it has the proper ventilation system installed.

Though you might not have a single dust-speck in sight, pollutants and microorganisms hide in the strangest of places. These outlined tips are designed to clean out the air in your Harrisburg, Pennsylvania home to extract pollutants and prevent dangerous living conditions for you and your family.

Clean air makes a safe home.

1. Clean the Vents

Your vents are designed to distribute clean air in your home and extract dirty air. Think of your vents as the lungs of your home. The ventilation in your home relies on a few equipment pieces to clean your home’s air. When vents become dirty, this can prevent them from extracting dirty air from the home and can keep it circulating in the rooms.

Dust and other debris will settle and stick to your air duct filters. These are filters found at the entry-point of your air duct system. Clean or replace your vent filters several times per year and you’ll find your air quality drastically increases. For simple cleaning, use a vacuum to clean off the filters.

2. Purchase an Air Purifier

Air purifiers are much more efficient than they used to be. Some are so intelligent that they can recognize any pollutants in the room and will extract these pollutants to clean the air.

Not all air purifiers are extremely expensive like Dyson Pure, but you’ll want to place one in each room that has the most time spent in it. So your kitchen, bathrooms, living room, and bedrooms should all have an air purifier.

3. Install Carbon Monoxide Monitors

Most homes nowadays have carbon monoxide (CO) monitors, but not all. Monoxide can enter your home through various appliances, even your car. CO gas is the poison that can seep into your home’s air through fuel-based appliances that don’t burn fully.

Smoke detectors won’t be able to detect carbon monoxide. Install carbon monoxide monitors in your home to prevent toxic pollutants from crowding out your fresh air.

4. Install a Ductless HVAC System

A ductless mini-split system is used to control the heating and air in your home. It is the ultimate HVAC system that controls the air in a singular room or for the entire home. Your central air system must be up to date to provide your home with the safest and healthiest air quality.

Ductless systems are also very slim and offer homeowners a chance to remove their old clunky AC unit and replace it with a modern design. You will also save on your energy bills.

5. Clean All of Your Furniture

Furniture is prone to gather dust, microorganisms, and dirt. Your furniture should be cleaned on a regular basis to extract the pollutants in each room. Couches and carpets are notorious for hiding secret entities that affect the air quality in the home. Vacuum your fabric furniture and use soap and water to clean your smooth-surfaced items.

6. Remove Indoor Plants

While you might think your plants are providing extra oxygen in your home, the ecosystem might be detrimental to your health. There are some house plants that help the air quality in your home, like an aloe vera plant. Other plants tend to attract mites, mold, mildew, and other microorganisms. Be careful of which plants you choose to include in your home and move the risky ones outside.

7. Don’t Mask Smells

Masking a smell doesn’t remove the problem, it’s a bandaid to a much larger issue. If you smell gas, are you going to use Febreeze to extract the smell?

Instead of masking smells, remove them. By cleaning your ventilation systems, installing new AC units, and even opening up a window, you will extract the smell. Stay away from using chemicals as that will only increase your chance of illness.

8. Open Your Windows

Cracking open a window or a door to the outside world can help remove smells and unhealthy air. You are essentially allowing old air to be sucked out of your home and new air to replace it. You’ll want to be aware of the air quality outside before you open a window since fumes and gases can come into your home if they are lingering outside.

9. Hire a Harrisburg HVAC Professional

Bonus tip! Hire a Harrisburg, PA HVAC contractor who knows how to inspect your home for dangerous pollutants. At WM Buffington, our contractors spend their time understanding the structure of the home and how to improve the safety of your air quality.

Give us a call today to schedule an inspection so we can provide you with recommendations and installations of clean air systems you need.

7 Most Common Boiler Problems and Why They Occur

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HVAC contractor repairing a boiler

Are you experiencing problems with your boiler? During the cold season is when your boiler is put to the test, especially if the outside temperature is below freezing (32° Farhenheit).

We’ve dealt with many issues related to boiler systems, but the following list of boiler problems are the most commonly found. Sometimes all it takes is a simple repair and other times, your boiler needs replacement.

Take a look at these common boiler problems to better understand what the issue might be. If your boiler system is experiencing any of these problems, you might need to call a heating contractor to come out to repair it.

1. Leaking & Dripping

Are you noticing any excess water surrounding your boiler tank or the pipes it’s connected to? Leaking and dripping caused by the boiler tank is extremely common. Over time, boilers can retain rust and become old. When this occurs, components of the system can lose their dexterity.

Leaking or dripping can be caused by old parts, an aging seal, the pressure valve is too high, the system is overworking constantly, or even the corrosion of pipes. In order to determine the cause of the leaking or dripping, it’s safest to contact a local heating contractor. They will come in and inspect the boiler tank and pipes to discover where the leaking water is coming from.

It may be something as simple as a loose fitting.

2. Kettling – Noises Like a Tea Kettle

Have you ever heard a tea kettle when it comes to a boil? This is a noise that can occur with your boiler and pipes; it’s commonly called “kettling”.

Kettling can also be noted as sounding like a sort of odd rumbling noise. Over time, your boiler’s heat exchanger can have a deposit build-up. This build-up comes from continuous water usage, so it’s a normal occurrence. However, these deposits can clog the flow of water in the heat exchanger, and this leads to intense heating, thus the noises.

When your boiler is kettling, it’s working harder to deliver the heat or hot water you need. This drives up your bills and shortens the boiler’s lifetime.

Kettling is most common in areas of the house with hard water, but can still occur where soft water resides.

3. Pilot Light Turning Off

Your boiler has a blue flame located underneath it to keep the system lit and running. When the pilot light shuts off, this typically means the thermocouple is having difficulties or is faulty. Your boiler’s thermocouple aids in the supply of gas to the boiler. Your newer boiler system will typically not have this problem, however, it still can occur.

Fixing your pilot light can be as simple as reigniting the flame. But, before you go about just reigniting flames where gas is in use, check to see if your boiler is receiving gas. If there is no gas reaching the boiler, it could be that your gas has turned off in your entire house or that the gas stopcock isn’t on.

After checking these troubleshooting options and ensuring you have gas in your home and the pilot light is still off, it’s best to contact a heating contractor. If you have a gas leak or it’s another problem occurring with the system, the heating contractor has the tools to deal with the issue without injuring themselves or damaging your home.

4. Condensate Pipe is Frozen

New boilers are condensing boilers. This type of boiler system uses a condensate pipe for the removal of waste gas that the boiler creates. When it’s freezing outside, the risk of your boiler’s condensate pipe freezing is very high. The water freezes and will cause a blockage.

This is resolved by defrosting the condensate pipe. You can thaw the pipe by applying hot water (not boiling) on the pipe, using a warm cloth, or using another warming method on the pipe. If you aren’t going to hire a heating contractor to come out to fix the frozen condensate pipe, we ask that you keep yourself safe by using gloves and protective gear to avoid injury.

5. Thermostat is Inaccurate

Your boiler’s thermostat is used to retain the appropriate temperature for the heat and hot water in the home. When this is reading the wrong temperature or is shutting the heating on or off, it might need a fix or to be replaced.

Thermostats can become old over time or wires can become loose. A thermostat malfunctioning is typical in older boilers. Sometimes, it may have nothing to do with the age or wiring at all. Perhaps the thermostat was bumped or the settings are inaccurate. Check to make sure the thermostat is set to “on” and the settings are as you want them to warm your home.

6. Irregular Hot Water and Heating

When you start losing heat or your water refuses to warm up, your boiler could have malfunctioning parts. While the boiler may not be in charge of the heating of air, it can still cause rooms to get cold.

Irregular hot water and heating could mean that your thermostat needs resetting or to be replaced, but it could be other failing internal components. The boiler valve, diaphragm, or airlock could need replacing, which shouldn’t be a project performed by someone without heating equipment experience.

Rather than trying to fix the problem yourself and finding out it’s more complicated than you might think (or it could be an entirely different problem), have a heating contractor come out to inspect the problem.

7. Radiator Stops Heating

A heating system can run on radiators. If these radiators refuse to heat up, you’re not going to get hot anything. You can typically find out if the radiators aren’t running properly when the bottom of the radiator is hot and the top is cool. This might be caused by sludge or grime build-up in the transfer section from the boiler to the radiator or the radiators being off-balance.

In the case of a cool radiator, bleed the system for a full reset or call a heating contractor to come out and fix it.

Conclusion

There are many problems that can occur with boilers, and many factors to take into consideration for each problem. If you’re experiencing heating issues with your boiler, you can sometimes troubleshoot the problem and have it back up and running in no time. But dealing with boilers can be very dangerous.

We highly recommend that you call a heating contractor that has experience in repairing and replacing boilers. WM Buffington heating contractors are licensed and have years of experience in the repair and replacement of boilers and their components. If it’s another heating or plumbing issue, we’ll be able to discover and take care of it pronto!

Call us today if you are having boiler problems and need your home to be comfortable and warm again.

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