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Your Heating System is The Heart of Your Home! But How Do You Keep It Running Strong?

Campeau Heating in Sudbury, Ontario, lists 10 furnace warning signs that homeowners should be watching for this winter.

Your Heating System is The Heart of Your Home! But How Do You Keep It Running Strong?

If your ductwork is the lungs of your home, your heating system is the heart! And it’s your job to keep that heart running strong, even during the coldest of Canadian winters.

But to keep your heating system working efficiently, you first need to understand what warning signs to watch out for. 

Do you know how to tell if your furnace is malfunctioning? 

Do you know whether it’s time for a furnace repair or a furnace replacement?

In our last blog post, we told you how to Conquer Your Year-End HVAC Maintenance Checklist and Say Goodbye to Winter! But winter is still holding on - keeping our furnaces running hard for just a few weeks longer.

So, in this article, our Campeau Heating technicians are going to help your furnace survive this last bout of cold weather! How? By making sure it’s operating in peak condition!

Plus, being aware of repair or replacement needs NOW could save you from being entirely without heat next winter! Something Canadians would really rather not experience, especially in Northern Ontario.

Below are 10 furnace warning signs that you should be watching out for. Keep in mind that most of these simply need a small furnace repair visit. But others could be pointing to a bigger problem!

If you’re not sure how to inspect your furnace on your own, contact our heating experts in Sudbury, Ontario!

 

How To Know If You Need A New Furnace: 10 Warning Signs To Watch For

Before you go ahead and replace your current furnace system, let’s learn what warning signs you should be watching out for. After all, your furnace may not need a full replacement. It may just need a quick furnace repair!

Furnace Warning Signs:

  1. Unusual Noises

One of the telltale signs of a broken furnace is hearing it make unusual noises. If your furnace begins making banging or screeching sounds, it’s time to get it checked out! The problem could simply be a small repair, but catching the repair early could save you thousands of dollars, or even a full replacement. 

  1. Strange Smells

Unusual smells are also a telltale sign of a broken furnace. While some furnace smells are normal, and some call for small repairs, others are there to warn you. Specifically the smell of mercaptan. This chemical smells like rotten eggs and is added to gas furnace fuel as a safety precaution.

If you start to smell rotten eggs, leave your home immediately. It could mean there is a gas leak in your furnace.

  1. High Utility Bills

Have your heating bills begun to skyrocket? Although this winter has been much colder than expected and fuel prices have increased significantly, rising utility bills could mean something more.

Did you know that your furnace will actually consume more energy if it isn’t operating at peak efficiency? This could be due to a simple repair, or it could mean that your furnace is about to call it quits for good.

  1. Uneven Heating

Uneven heat distribution is when some of the rooms in your home are warm, while others remain cold. Central furnaces are meant to heat all rooms in your home (that are connected to your ductwork) evenly. This means that each room in your home should be receiving the same amount of heat.

If your furnace is failing to provide even heating to your home, it usually means that it is no longer able to circulate heat efficiently.

  1. Excessive Dust

Is there more dust in your home than normal? Excessive amounts of dust, especially near furnace vents, are a clear sign of an old filter. If you don’t change your furnace filter, this could affect your indoor air quality!

  1. Higher Carbon Monoxide Levels

There are many factors in a furnace that can cause carbon monoxide levels to rise dangerously high. That includes poor ventilation, a broken heat exchanger, a blogged flue pipe etc.

Signs of rising carbon monoxide levels:
  • Rust on pipe connections.
  • No updraft in the chimney.
  • Water leaking from the base of your chimney.
  • Black streaks appearing on walls (soot streaking).
  • Moisture on surfaces near your furnace.
You should also be watching for symptoms of carbon monoxide over-exposure:
  • Burning eyes
  • Flu symptoms
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea etc.

Exit your home immediately if you believe there are high levels of carbon monoxide.

  1. A Yellow Pilot Light

Another way to check for a carbon monoxide leak in your furnace is to look at your pilot light. This light should be bright blue! If it’s not blue, or worse, if it’s yellow, this means you may have a carbon monoxide leak in your home.

Again, exit your home immediately if you believe there are high levels of carbon monoxide.

  1. Frequent Furnace Repair Calls

How many times did your furnace need repairing this winter? Twice? Three times? More than three times?

At Campeau Heating, we always recommend scheduling an annual furnace maintenance appointment. But if you’re scheduling numerous repair visits each winter or calling for frequent emergency fixes, it might be time to start furnace shopping!

  1. Odd and Persistent Health Issues In Your Family

Has your family been experiencing odd and persistent health issues? These can include:

  • Headaches
  • Dizziness
  • Allergies etc.

If so, this could be due to an ageing furnace (which we’ll talk about next). Old furnaces lose efficiency over time. This makes it more and more difficult for them to filter out unwanted particles.

Your family's health symptoms could be due to a growing level of dust, mould and allergens in your indoor air!

  1. Old Age

Old age is a common furnace warning sign that most homeowners simply brush off. After all, “why fix something that isn’t broken”?

But you might begin to regret that response when your 25-year-old furnace decides to conk out in the middle of winter.

Furnaces normally last anywhere from 15-20 years. So, if you installed your current furnace in the 90’s, it’s time to start looking at your options.

 

Schedule Your Furnace Maintenance Appointment Today

If you’ve noticed any of the above warning signs, schedule your furnace maintenance right away. Just a quick repair could save you thousands of dollars!

Our heating technicians at Campeau Heating have been repairing furnaces for over 30 years! No matter what type of furnace you have, we’ll be there to help get it back up and running.

Furnaces We Service at Campeau Heating:

 

Schedule Your Furnace Repair or Replacement With Campeau Heating in Sudbury, Ontario!

Creating a safe and comfortable environment for your family is the reason we do what we do. That’s why we provide you with as much knowledge, experience and advice as we can.

We’ve been servicing Sudbury, Ontario, and surrounding areas since 1983 and have got quite a bit of heating experience under our belts. Give us a call at (705) 560-2441 or contact us online! We’ll be happy to help you select, install and maintain the heating solution that fits your home and budget best.

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