6 Reasons Why Your Furnace Keeps Tripping Your Circuit Breaker
- Electrical
6 Reasons Why Your Furnace Keeps Tripping Your Circuit Breaker
Through these winter days in New England, you may not pay much attention to the furnace that is keeping you warm. It works most of the time and requires little attention. However, you will notice in a hurry when something goes wrong. When the circuit breaker is tripped by your furnace, it shuts down and has to be reset. If you are not a professional, you may find yourself often wondering if and when it will keep happening. Will it shut down in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep? Is it a sign of a greater problem? Is there a danger of it starting a fire in the house? These are just a few of the questions you may have when the circuit breaker to the furnace is tripped. Ryan Gath Electric gives you these 6 common reasons why your furnace keeps tripping your circuit breaker:
Knowing some of the possible causes will help you answer some of these questions yourself. You might even be able to fix them yourself and avoid the cost of professional repairs altogether. You can also protect yourself from companies that want to sell you a new furnace instead of fixing the underlying problem.
1. An Overloaded Furnace
Furnaces are designed to heat a specific range of area. If you have added an addition or extra rooms from the time you installed your furnace, it may now be too small to heat your home effectively. Having the right sized furnace for your home is the key to it to operating efficiently. Long periods of extreme weather can also overload a furnace by simply requiring it to run more often.
2. An Overloaded Shared Circuit
Home wiring can get complicated, and you need to make sure you know which power supply is powering your various appliances and electronics. If too many things are hooked up to the same circuit, it can cause an overload. It is generally a good idea for a furnace to have its own circuit with nothing else on it, but if you must share it for some reason, you should know how much load the circuit can handle.
3. Short Circuit/Ground Fault Inside The Furnace
Furnace wires can come loose or just wear out over time. A professional might need to be called for a second look at this, but you can do some basic inspection to find loose or burned out wiring. Debris and household items can fall onto grounding, making it work incorrectly. Even a buildup of dust can be the culprit.
4. Circuit Breaker Problems
Sometimes there is an underlying problem with the circuit breaker itself. This is another time that a professional might need to be consulted. However like anything else, even the circuit breakers that are designed to prevent overloads can have their own faults and failures.
5. Loose Electrical Connection(s)
Another reason why your furnace keeps tripping your circuit breaker is loose electrical connections. Over time wiring can get loose and connections can get broken. Inspect your wiring carefully to see if anything is loose. Of course, always take extreme caution to make sure you are not touching a live wire when you inspect it. Loose electrical connections will disrupt communication with the breaker, and that will cause it to trip.
6. Overworked Furnace Blower
The furnace distributes heat through a blower that sends heat down ducts that disperse heat throughout the home. If the blower is running all the time, it will eventually cause the furnace to become overworked and trip the circuit breaker. If the blower is always on, there is likely a problem that may require the attention of a professional. Listening for the blower is a good way to tell whether it is on so you can determine whether or not it is necessary for it to be blowing.
Contact Ryan Gath Electric If Your Furnace Keeps Tripping Your Circuit Breaker
If your furnace has always run with little maintenance in the past but now keeps tripping your circuit breaker, you may be left cold, frustrated and unsure of what to do. Applying these 6 simple steps can help you inspect the situation yourself to potentially avoid the need for professional repairs. If you still find yourself having to constantly reset your breaker while your furnace is running, it may be time to all the experts at Ryan Gath Electric. Our licensed electricians can help get the electrical connections on your furnace wired correctly so your furnace can run efficiently once again. So don’t continue asking yourself whether your furnace is at risk of losing heat or starting an electrical fire. Call Ryan Gath Electric for inspection today.
