Power outages can happen anywhere, whether they are caused by high winds, summer storms, grid strain, or unexpected equipment issues. Even though our area is known for hot weather, winter nights in the desert can still get cold fast, and a heater that will not restart after an outage can make your home uncomfortable.
If the lights come back on but your heater does not, there may be a simple issue to check before scheduling heater repair. Your thermostat may need to reset, a breaker may have tripped, or your heating system may need a safe restart. If your heater is not responding, the blower is running without warm air, or the system will not turn back on, here are a few troubleshooting steps you can try before calling for service.
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.
Check the Thermostat
Start with the thermostat. Make sure it has power, is set to heat, and is set a few degrees higher than the current room temperature. If the screen is blank, replace the batteries if your thermostat uses them, then check whether the system responds. Some thermostats may need a few minutes to restart after a power outage.
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
Still no luck? 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
Some heating equipment or nearby components may be connected to a GFCI outlet. If you see a nearby outlet with reset and test buttons, press reset and check whether your heater responds. If the outlet will not reset or trips again, stop troubleshooting and call for service.
Resetting a Gas Furnace
If you have a gas furnace, do not attempt to relight the pilot or reset the gas supply unless you are following the manufacturer’s instructions for your exact model and you are confident it is safe. If you smell gas, leave your home immediately and call your gas company or emergency services. If your furnace has an electronic ignition, repeated clicking, no flame, or a pilot light that will not stay lit, schedule professional furnace repair.
If you have the manufacturer’s instructions for your gas furnace, you can attempt to reignite the pilot light, but be very cautious. 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.
Why a Heater May Not Turn Back On After an Outage
A heater may fail to restart after a power outage because the thermostat lost power, the breaker tripped, a safety switch shut the system down, or a power surge affected an electrical component. Older systems may also need extra time or a manual reset before they begin heating again. If the system still will not produce warm air after basic checks, the issue may involve the ignition system, blower motor, control board, limit switch, or another component that needs professional diagnosis.
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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