What To Check Before Calling An HVAC Technician

  Heating, you know how it goes. It seems to ALWAYS go out at the worst possible time. It's -5 degrees outside, there's a blizzard, and you think you may have seen Rudolph's red nose leading Santa's sleigh! Okay, maybe your situation isn't that dramatic, but in the moment it's always so inconvenient. 
  Instead of throwing your hands up in the air as if to say, "What else can I do?" check out these tips you should absolutely do before emptying your wallet for an HVAC technician to fix a simple problem you could've fixed yourself.
  So, without further ado, here's what we suggest you to check before calling your HVAC Technician. Please refer to our previous blog post if you do not know what type of heating system you have.
  When your heating fails:

 Forced Air Furnace:

• Check and/or reset your breaker to your indoor air handler or gas furnace (if you have a heat pump- check the breaker to the outdoor unit also, specifically if the indoor unit is blowing cold air)
• Check any and all air filters inside your indoor unit or in the filter grill return.
• If you have a digital thermostat, check batteries and replace if necessary. If your batteries are low your thermostat will not function to run your heating system properly.
• Check to see if your gas meter is turned on. Is your gas bill paid up to date?
• Check to see if your outdoor unit is iced over, if you have a heat pump. Outdoor unit will frost over intermittently. If your unit stays continually frosted up; however, your outdoor unit is not going into defrost and should be checked by a qualified HVAC technician. If outdoor unit stays partially frosted over then your unit is low on refrigerant charge and will need to be charged by a qualified service technician.

Heat Pump:

• If The unit is not defrosting. Under normal conditions, your heat pump periodically switches to air conditioning mode for a few minutes, which heats up the outdoor coils enough to melt any frost and light ice that has accumulated. If the unit is not defrosting, ice can build up in a hurry. Defrost issues can be caused by faulty relays, controls, or sensors. There could also be a problem with the reverse valve that switches the unit from heat to air conditioning mode. You will need to call a qualified HVAC technician in these cases.


• You may have Low refrigerant: If your heat pump system has a slow leak of refrigerant, eventually the charge becomes so low that the system is not producing enough heat to melt the frost. If this is the case, you will probably also have issues with the unit reaching set temperature. A certified HVAC technician can charge your unit for you.
• Make sure Outdoor unit is not blocked. If piles of snow have accumulated around the outdoor unit, the impeded air flow can cause more icing.

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         Things to remember:

• NEVER use a hard or pointy object to try to chip away ice from your unit.Those fan coils are very delicate and can easily be damaged. Instead, use water from a hose to melt the ice.
• Remove any debris or snow that may be blocking the unit.
• Check for leaking gutters that may be dripping water onto the unit, and repair them.
• Call your HVAC service tech to troubleshoot defrost issues.