Power outages happen to everyone and heater repair is common. They’re a normal part of both city and rural life. Anything from high winds to animal nests can cut the power to your home, causing every light and appliance to go out for the duration. In the winter, this can be especially problematic, as your home will get colder until the power comes back on.
But what do you do if the lights come back but your heater doesn’t switch on? Most people go straight to the thermostat to warm up the house after a winter outage. If you’re getting no response – or blowers without heat – it’s time for some immediate troubleshooting. Before you call the repair service and wait out another hour in the cold, here are a few quick fixes you can try.
Heater Repair – Why Your Heater Doesn’t Work After a Power Outage
First, why do heaters sometimes not come back after a power outage? There are three possible answers. First, you have an old system that disengaged while the power was down, and you’ll just need to turn everything back on. Second, you might have a gas heater and the pilot light may have gone out. Third, there might have been a power surge (a jolt of electricity down the power lines) at the beginning of the outage that tripped your breaker. This can happen, for example, when lightning hits a power line during a storm.
How do you fix it? It depends on what’s wrong.
Make Sure the Thermostat Turned Back On
First check the thermostat. Some older models of thermostats don’t turn themselves back on when the power comes back. Switch it off and back on again and slightly change the temperature setting for your heater. If the thermostat lights up and your heater starts, you’re in good shape. If not, move on to the breaker box.
Check Your Breaker Box for Flipped Switches
If there was a power surge, it likely tripped a breaker fuse. This is actually what breakers are there for, to protect your home from blown appliances when a surge comes down the line or a circuit is tripped in the house.
Open your breaker box and check for any switches that are in the ‘middle’ instead of On or Off. You may also see a visible red bar on the affected breakers.
Switch those (one or more) breakers to the “Off” position, then back “On” to reset the circuit. Then check your thermostat and fiddle with the controls to see if the heater will come back on.
Check for a Furnace Reset Button and avoid Heater Repair
Still no luck? Look to avoid heater repair, Take a look at your heating unit and look for a Reset button, often red or yellow. The reset button will reset the heater’s internal circuits which may have flipped during a power surge or an extended outage. Press and hold the reset button for about five second, and release. DO NOT press the reset button more than once or you’ll activate a safety lockout and will need to call a technician.
Give it about two minutes, fiddle with the thermostat, and see if the heat comes back on. (No doubt you see a pattern forming here)
Check for Nearby GFI Outlets
For older furnace installations, your heater might be connected to a GFI outlet, which has its own internal fuse that flips. Look for nearby GFI outlets and press the button in the center of the outlet to reset it. Just like the outlet for your hairdryer in the bathroom. Once again, check the thermostat and see if your heater comes back on.
Resetting a Gas Furnace
If you have a gas furnace, you may need to reset the gas line and, with older models, reignite the pilot light. To do this, first turn off the thermostat (so no signal reaches the heater. Then turn off the gas for 3-5 minutes with nearby doors open to clear the air. Then turn the gas back on. Wait one minute and turn the thermostat back on.
If you have an older furnace model with a manual pilot light – that is out – use a barbecue lighter (the long kind) to relight it after the gas is restarted. Be very careful, do not let natural gas build up in the room for any length of time.
When to Call for Furnace Repairs After a Power Outage
If none of the previous troubleshooting steps have resulted in warm air flowing through your vents, it’s time to call for emergency furnace repairs. If your home is in El Paso, TX, contact us and we’ll send a crew out immediately to get your furnace working and your home warm.
If you expect any delay on a cold winter night, be prepared to keep warm and/or make alternative lodging plans until repairs can be completed.
The guys in the yellow booties are here for all your air conditioner repair needs, along with expert swamp cooler conversions. Look to the pros if you have any questions about converting to refrigerated air conditioning with SoBellas Home Services of El Paso, Texas. Call us with questions like, how much does refrigerated air cost or anything about El Paso refrigerated air conversion.
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