Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - Newer Air Furnace intermittently heating house
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kevinnn693
12-08-05, 11:38 PM
The home is 3 years old and has a Ultra 5-Tech 80 Forced Air Furnace by Armstrong Air. I've never had a problem until now.
The house will get very cold intermittently. The thermostat will be set to 75 and the temp will drop to 60. The air is strongly blowing through the vents, but it's cold air. Then, 6 hours later, the air will be hot for the rest of the day. Later that night, you'll wake up to a 60 degree house again. It's not just cold at night - some nights it works fine. I've replaced the thermostat and the batteries which did not solve the issue. The filter is new. The problem has been happening for about 4 days.
The furnace has some documentation that says it does not have a pilot light and that an ignotor will start the heating process. I removed the metal cover and noticed that there are 3 narrow, hallow cylinders laying horizontal. They appear to be where I'd expect to see a flame(s), but there is no flame. (I'm guessing here - I'm pretty ignorant in this area). There is also no gas smell - thank God.
I'm confused about the fact that it works sometime of the time. You'd think it'd work or it wouldn't. Any ideas? Time to call a pro?
Freezing in Nebraska - kevin
*** I just turned off the furnace, waited 10 minutes and turned back on. The flames kicked in and the house is being heated again. Does this still warrent attention? Is it possible that simply resetting the unit permanently solved the issue?
The house will get very cold intermittently. The thermostat will be set to 75 and the temp will drop to 60. The air is strongly blowing through the vents, but it's cold air. Then, 6 hours later, the air will be hot for the rest of the day. Later that night, you'll wake up to a 60 degree house again. It's not just cold at night - some nights it works fine. I've replaced the thermostat and the batteries which did not solve the issue. The filter is new. The problem has been happening for about 4 days.
The furnace has some documentation that says it does not have a pilot light and that an ignotor will start the heating process. I removed the metal cover and noticed that there are 3 narrow, hallow cylinders laying horizontal. They appear to be where I'd expect to see a flame(s), but there is no flame. (I'm guessing here - I'm pretty ignorant in this area). There is also no gas smell - thank God.
I'm confused about the fact that it works sometime of the time. You'd think it'd work or it wouldn't. Any ideas? Time to call a pro?
Freezing in Nebraska - kevin
*** I just turned off the furnace, waited 10 minutes and turned back on. The flames kicked in and the house is being heated again. Does this still warrent attention? Is it possible that simply resetting the unit permanently solved the issue?
mattison
12-09-05, 06:10 AM
Sounds to me like you've either got a safety that's kicking your furnace off, a simple sensor, or even a faulty circuit board. If the house is fairly new to you and the furnace has not been cleaned and saftey checked since you moved in then I would strongly reccomend getting a pro in to do that and the diagnostics.
jasper_60103
12-09-05, 09:54 AM
Sounds familiar. I had a similar situation at my last house. You have some sort of failure at startup and the blower is just cycling. Cycling power on the furnace would get the heat on temporarily, but the same failure would occur eventually.
Have a tech look at it.
-jasper
Have a tech look at it.
-jasper