Your furnace is going to see daily use this winter, as it will most winters in a town like Portland, OR. That makes it doubly concerning when you turn your heater on and the air isn’t warm enough, or worse: it’s not hot at all. That usually merits a visit from a repair technician, who can pinpoint the problem quickly and implement a proper solution. As a homeowner, however, it may help you to understand the possible causes of low heat in your furnace , which can stem from a number of different sources and usually requires professional expertise to resolve. Here’s a partial list of some of the more common causes to help you out.

The burners are where the heating process gets started, and over time they can develop clogs and similar problems, preventing them from working as they should. In some cases, this can stem from trouble in the gas lines, where a clog or disruption is preventing the gas from getting to the burners. (This is one of the reasons why you should shut off the heater and the gas immediately upon detecting a problem: leaky gas is nothing to fool around with.) A service technician can unclog the burners, and regular maintenance session can help keep them from forming in the first place.

Furnaces can overheat, and when they do, a limit switch turns the burners off to prevent the problem from causing permanent damage to your heater. A good first step if this happens to you is to check and replace the furnace’s filter. If it’s dirty, that may be the source of the problem. If overheating continues, however, call in a technician.

When the duct system experiences a breach, it can either drag heated air out of your ducts or pull cool air in. Either way, your system won’t deliver the heat that it needs to. Duct breaches are likely in situations where only one vent or area of your home is blowing cool air.

If you detect low heat levels in your furnace, call Clean Air Act, Inc. immediately!

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