{"id":2506,"date":"2017-02-27T11:00:12","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T16:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/?p=2506"},"modified":"2019-11-25T12:13:01","modified_gmt":"2019-11-25T17:13:01","slug":"furnace-quirks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/heating-service\/furnace-quirks\/","title":{"rendered":"Furnace Quirks That Seem Problematic, but May Not be"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"If you\u2019ve had your furnace for a while, and you\u2019re familiar with how it operates, it can be tempting to freak out if it suddenly begins to do something unusual. While there are certainly times when an unusual furnace behavior can indicate a serious problem, there are a number of different times when it\u2019s not an emergency. You may still need to have the problem fixed (if it is a problem) but at least you\u2019ll know that your system isn\u2019t going to blow up any time soon.<\/p>\n

Booming<\/h2>\n

If your furnace sounds like a cannon firing when it starts up, you don\u2019t need to worry just yet. Chances are, you just have a clogged burner assembly. The burner assembly is the part of the system responsible for combusting natural gas to generate heat. If you don\u2019t have a gas furnace, you may not have a burner assembly to worry about.<\/p>\n

When the burner assembly is operating, a number of combustion byproducts are generated. This includes carbon particles, which build up on the jets over time. Eventually, the system can become so clogged that some of the jets don\u2019t fire when they\u2019re supposed to. When the jets finally do<\/em> fire, they burn through the built-up gas all at once and generate that loud booming sound. This can become a problem if the assembly is allowed to become so clogged that it doesn\u2019t work at all. A quick professional cleaning, though, should resolve the issue fairly easily.<\/p>\n

Burning Smells<\/h2>\n

Many homeowners panic when they first turn on their furnace in the fall, only to be met with a strong burning smell. If this happens to you, don\u2019t worry too much. Your furnace is very likely not going to burst into flames or anything. What is probably happening is the dust and other debris that\u2019s been collecting in the innards of the furnace all year long has begun to burn off. This is incredibly common, and as long as the smell goes away after a couple of hours it should not warrant any more worry.<\/p>\n

Failure to Start<\/h2>\n

Now, we\u2019re going to offer this one with a caveat: failure to start is only benign if<\/em> you manage to resolve it in the following ways:<\/p>\n