The first cold night in West Central Ohio is usually sometime in October, and it almost never gives you any warning!
Every year around this time, we get calls from people who are a little embarrassed to be asking. Don’t be! These are good questions, and most of them have short answers. Here are the 5 questions we hear the most once the heat kicks on for the first time:
Why does it smell like something is burning?
This is our number one first-cold-night call, by a wide margin.
Your furnace sat unused all summer and collected a layer of dust. When the heat exchanger warms up for the first time, that dust burns off. It smells alarming and it is completely normal. Crack a window or two and let it clear. The smell should fade within 30 to 60 minutes of runtime.
What is NOT normal: a burning plastic smell, an electrical or fishy smell, or a burning smell that is still hanging around the next day.
In that case, shut the system off and call us at (937) 888-3790. Those smells point to a wiring issue or a failing component, not dust!
What is that banging in the walls?
Most of the time, it is your ductwork. Sheet metal expands when hot air moves through it and contracts again when it cools, and it ticks and pops the whole way. A lot of the older homes around West Central Ohio have long duct runs that are very chatty about it.
Here is the noise that does matter: one loud BOOM a few seconds after the furnace fires up. That is delayed ignition, which means gas is pooling before it lights. It is hard on the heat exchanger and it gets worse, not better. Call us on that one.
How often do I really need to change the filter?
A standard 1-inch filter: every 1 to 3 months. If you have pets, if someone in the house has allergies, or if the system is running hard, you are best served to change the filter every month. A 4-inch media filter will usually go 6 to 12 months.
A packed filter chokes off airflow, which makes the system work harder, reduces efficiency, and shortens its life.
You can order filters straight from us here: https://chilltexllc.com/ecommerce-shop-page/#/products
Should the thermostat fan be set to AUTO or ON?
AUTO, nearly always. ON runs the blower 24 hours a day, which costs you money and puts unnecessary hours on the motor.
Here is the trick most homeowners never think of, though. If you have one room that will not even out with the rest of the house, running the fan on ON for a stretch will circulate and mix the air, and that can take the edge off the difference. (But only then, usually we would never ever advise it!!)
Why won’t my furnace reach the temperature I set?
On a genuinely cold night, some of this is just physics. Heating systems are sized for a design temperature, and when it drops well below that, the system runs longer and may sit a degree or two under your setting. That by itself is not a failure.
What is worth a call: the furnace runs constantly and never gets close to the set temperature, or it was keeping up fine last winter and is not this year. That usually means airflow, a failing component, or a system that is undersized for the house after an addition or a remodel. If you are not sure where to start, take a look at our heating services.
When to stop troubleshooting and call ChillTex
A few things are not worth waiting out:
- The system turns on and off every few minutes (that is called short cycling)
- Any burning plastic or electrical smell
- Your carbon monoxide detector goes off, in which case get everyone outside first, THEN call
- No heat at all
- Water pooling around the base of the unit
None of these get better on their own, and could cause more expensive problems down the road.
If you are in West Central Ohio or anywhere nearby and something on this list sounds familiar, give us a call at (937) 888-3790 or schedule service online. We are here to help!