Common Boiler & Furnace Problems in Cold Weather

Helping You Diagnose What’s Wrong with Your Heating System

With the arrival of winter cold, our furnaces and boilers are beginning their season’s work of keeping your home warm and comfortable.

Regular professional maintenance is essential to keeping your home’s heating system running smoothly and at its best possible efficiency. But even with maintenance, problems may still arise. Here are some of the more common ones:

Boiler Problems

Frequent Cycling (Turning On/Off): Check the thermostat to make sure that it is set properly. If that’s not the problem, the cause may be low water pressure or air in the system. Get in touch with your service technician.

Strange Noises: Banging, whistling, and gurgling are signs that there may be air in your heating system. Rumbling—or sounding like a tea kettle coming to a boil—can indicate a buildup of limescale deposits in the heat exchanger restricting water flow. Schedule a service call before problems become any worse.

Leaking or Dripping: Excess water around your boiler or the pipes connected to it can have many causes. It may be corroded pipes, a worn seal, aging and failing parts, or the pressure valve being set too high. Get in touch with a service technician for proper diagnostics and repair services.

Furnace Problems

Cold Air from Your Vents: First, check the thermostat settings to ensure that it is set to “heat.” Then, check the air filter—something you should be doing every month anyway! Dirty air filters can block heated air from circulating. Replace it if needed. At worst, there may be an issue with the furnace pilot. Call your service technician to check and make any needed repairs.

Frequent Cycling (Turning On/Off): Again, check the thermostat settings first. Then check the breaker box to see if the circuit for the furnace was tripped. If it is, flip the switch and see if that fixes the problem. This may also be caused by a clogged air filter, which can lead to overheating and the furnace switching off. Replace the air filter. If these troubleshoots don’t work, there are other potential issues that could be at-hand, including a dirty flame sensor, damaged ignitor, or clogged flue vent. Contact your service technician to get to the bottom of it.

Odd Noises: Sounds such as grinding, scraping, popping, squealing, thumping, and rumbling indicate a potentially serious problem with your furnace. Contact a service technician right away to get a look at the interior parts and components.

Our certified propane technicians take pride in finding the solution to any propane problem and in keeping your propane equipment running efficiently and safely. With industry certifications across a wide range of propane-related specialties and systems, they know how to keep you comfortable and safe all year long!

Contact Advanced Propane today to find out more—or to schedule system maintenance.