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First Choice Heating & Cooling Blog

This Might Be Broken on Your Electric Furnace

thermostat-with-a-hat-on

Electric furnaces operate differently from combustion-based systems. Since they’re less common, it’s likely that you’ve just recently switched over and don’t know all the quirks of electric furnaces. We’re here to fill you in.

If you’re experiencing issues that you haven’t run into before, you could need a new electric furnace sequencer in Howell to fix the problem. Let’s go over all the reasons that this might be the issue and how to know for sure.

Your Furnace Isn’t Heating Your Home Properly

Your electric furnace has coils inside of it. Each of these coils heat up, though not all at once. This is the source of the heat that warms your home. 

Think of the sequencer as the controller for each of those coils. If your sequencer is bad or on its way out, it won’t allow the coils to heat up all the way. This leads to an underwhelming experience and poor heating. It’s possible that one or more of your coils are encountering problems and that the sequencer is fine. It’s difficult to tell, which is why a professional is required to properly diagnose the situation.

The Circuit Breaker is Constantly Tripped

Sequencers use a lot of power. When your electric furnace turns on, the sequencer is supposed to control each individual heating coil. It allows them to heat up/turn on one at a time, following a sequence (hence the name). If they all turn on at once, it draws too much power and trips your circuit breaker.

Think back: has this been a common problem in recent memory? Has your electric furnace been tripping the breaker more than just every once in a while? If so, that was a sign that your sequencer started going out. Now you know for the future.

Let’s Not Rule Out Your Thermostat

Your thermostat detects the temperature and sends a signal to your electric furnace. Once it receives the signal, the sequencer begins to fire up and allow the coils to heat.

But what happens if the thermostat is sending misleading information? If a thermostat isn’t calibrated, it may be reading that the temperature is higher than it actually is. Even if this miscalculation is only off by a couple of degrees, it’s noticeable. When you run into this problem, it feels like it has to be the furnace, but your electric furnace could be operating perfectly.

The thermostat also tells your electric furnace when to shut down. If it begins with an incorrect temperature reading, that means it’s telling the furnace to shut down prematurely.

Your Sequencer Is Critical

It’s difficult to get to your sequencer, and even harder to know if it’s the problem if you don’t have the right tools and experience. So it’s best to call a professional as soon as possible to take care of your electric furnace. We can diagnose the exact problem and get it fixed as quickly as possible.

Contact First Choice Heating & Cooling to handle your furnace repairs as soon as possible. If your home had a voice … it would call First Choice!

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