Why Does Your Furnace Keep Shutting Off?

Fall is barely here and your furnace is already giving you problems. Not a great way to start the season. If your furnace continually shuts off instead of staying on, you probably need to schedule an appointment for furnace repair in Layton.

It’s better to get ahead of furnace problems rather than putting off service and potentially facing even bigger issues later on. You can keep reading to learn more about common reasons that your furnace might switch off before completing a heating cycle.

Thermostat Issues

Sometimes the thermostat is the problem instead of the furnace. After all, the thermostat is what signals for your furnace to turn on and off for heating cycles. If your thermostat is not calibrated correctly or its batteries are low, it may not operate as well as it should. It’s also possible that the thermostat is simply dirty and needs to be cleaned out with a soft bristle brush.

Dirty Blower Wheel

And speaking of dirt, the inside of your furnace being dirty can have an impact on a variety of components. For example, if the blower wheel gets dirty, it may begin to lose lubrication and grind together instead of rotating smoothly. This can result in unusual sounds as well as less efficient operation that increases your energy costs.

Your furnace may shut off as a protective safety measure to prevent the system from overheating due to blower wheel issues. Most of the time our team can clean out the blower wheel and add more lubrication to solve the problem. However, if the damage gets bad enough we may have to replace the entire component.

Clogged Air Filter

A clogged air filter is another reason for your furnace not to work. If there’s not enough airflow coming into the furnace, then there’s not enough air for your furnace to heat and blow out into your home. Your heater will continue to work harder to bring more airflow into the system, which can lead to overheating.

Your furnace may shut down in the middle of a heating cycle to prevent overheating. It will continue turning back on in an attempt to heat your home, only to shut back down again before completing a heating cycle, leading to short cycling.

Blocked Vents

It’s also possible for airflow to be blocked leaving your furnace. When this happens, air vents are usually closed or have furniture in front of them that prevents airflow from blowing out into your home. Maybe you rearranged a room and didn’t pay attention to where the vents were. Or maybe you close certain vents in hopes of directing heat to other areas in your home. 

Either way, you want to make sure that all of your vents are completely open and free from any blockages. Otherwise heat can get trapped inside of your furnace and also contribute to overheating, resulting in the system shutting off.