How do I restart my heating system if I lose electricity?

During the winter, the threat of ice and snow can lead to power outages. One of the first steps that homeowners should take is to conserve heat within their home and to avoid as much heat loss as possible.

Here are a few tips to help reduce heat loss:

  • Roll a towel or blanket and place at the bottom of exterior doors. This will help keep cold air outside and warm air inside.
  • When the sun is out, open the curtains on the south-facing windows to harness the poweror sun. If it is cloudy, keep curtains or blinds closed to minimize heat lost through windows.

If you lose electricity to your home and you switch to a backup generator, your furnace/boiler may experience what is referred to as “dirty voltage” until the generator goes back up to full speed. Shut the power off at the service switch – typically a light switch mounted on the furnace/boiler – and turn the power back on. That should restart the furnace with “clean voltage” and resume normal operation.

For homeowners who do not have a generator, once the power is restored to your home, follow the above steps to restart your unit.

If you reset the power to the equipment by the service switch and the system does not restart, there is a possibility that a power surge caused the failure of a control/circuit board. Contact our office for an HVAC technician to diagnose the issue.

Also, please check your breaker/fuse panel. If a breaker has tripped, reset it. This can be accomplished by switching the break to OFF then ON. If it continues to trip, stop and contact a certified technician.

For information on future surge protection for your HVAC equipment, please use the contact form to request additional information.

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