A limit switch is a furnace component that plays a key role in temperature regulation by turning on the furnace’s blower once the temperature inside the unit reaches a particular level. It’s important to figure out when your furnace’s limit switch stops working properly because a failure can make your winters in Washington, PA quite uncomfortable. Here are three telltale signs of a malfunctioning furnace limit switch.
1. Inadequate Heating
Since the limit switch activates your furnace’s blower, it performs the essential function of distributing warm air through your home. Hence, one consequence of a faulty limit switch is that your home will stay cold this winter. Although your furnace may be able to produce warm air, if your blower doesn’t turn on and send that air moving into your home, things won’t get warmer.
2. Constant Furnace Operation
A broken limit switch can also have the exact opposite effect of the one just described. If the switch happens to break after your blower activates, then your furnace may never turn off. Unless you quickly ask for repair services, your heating bills will skyrocket.
3. Short Cycling
Short cycling is another particularly serious problem that often affects furnaces with limit switch malfunctions. In a normal heating cycle, your furnace should turn on when your home is at below-ideal temperatures, produce and distribute warm air, turn off and turn on again when necessary. Short cycling is when your furnace turns on and off without regard to the proper completion of a heating cycle.
This troublesome behavior can occur after your limit switch breaks because it will overheat if your furnace can’t use its blower to push warm air into your home. Safety switches will force it to turn off if its interior temperature grows too hot, even though your home is still cold. Your thermostat will then signal your furnace to turn on again, and the cycle will repeat.
A broken furnace limit switch demands the immediate intervention of trained heating system technicians. Call Bruno Plumbing & Heating and schedule heating services near Washington as soon as you can.
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