What To Do When Your Heat Isn’t Working

Losing heat in your home is stressful, especially during the coldest months of the year. The good news is that getting your heat back on might be a quick repair that you can do easily without outside help. Our team of certified HVAC professionals at Roby Services has put together a short guide to help you troubleshoot common heating system problems and fix them so that you can restore your heat quickly.

Inspect All Switches & Filters

Heating systems are designed to turn off automatically when there’s a problem to prevent overheating, malfunctions, and even electrical fires — knowing that, switches and filters are the best places to start.

Switches

Take a look at the switch on your heating system itself (it might be located on the outside unit). Then, switch on your thermostat and the corresponding fuse/breaker box switch. Are any of these turned off? Did you or a member of your household switch them off manually for some reason? If not, you’ve likely pinpointed which machine is causing a problem.

Air Filters

If an air filter on your furnace or heat pump has not been changed for a while, you might notice an odor or the unit might be producing less heat. Many heating systems are very sensitive to this and automatically turn off your furnace or heat pump to prevent overheating.

Check Your Thermostat

Thermostats have batteries so that if your home loses power, you won’t lose settings or timers. However, thermostats usually show a “low battery” indicator light so that you know far in advance that the batteries will fail soon. If your thermostat screen is entirely blank, try changing the batteries first. If that doesn’t work, there’s something else wrong with the thermostat.

Reset Your Heating System

For this, you’ll need to visit your HVAC unit itself — and it’s probably outside. Depending on how easy it is to find the reset buttons or sequences necessary, you might also need your unit’s manual.  

Boiler Reset

There should be a clearly marked reset button on or near your boiler (refer to the manufacturer’s manual for the location if needed). Most boiler systems require you to press the reset button for 10 to 15 seconds and wait several minutes for the boiler to restart.

Heat Pump or Ductless Mini-Split Reset

Turn off your thermostat first so that it doesn’t automatically try to turn on while you are resetting it. Switch off the corresponding breaker switch for your heating system, then turn off your heat pump or ductless mini-splits power switch. Wait about five minutes and turn everything back on again.

Furnace Reset

There should be a button or a switch on your furnace. If there’s not, you can turn off the furnace at your breaker box. Wait 15 seconds, and then turn on your furnace again.

Trust Roby Services for Reliable Heating Services in Charlotte, NC

If your heating system fails to restart several times after trying each of these steps, it’s time to call a professional HVAC technician to check for more severe issues. If you live near Charlotte, NC, or in the Mecklenburg County area, Roby Services can help. We’ve been serving Charlotte residents for over 70 years and have the knowledge and experience to solve any HVAC issue quickly and keep your home comfortable throughout the heating season.

For reliable heating and cooling repairs, installations, and 24/7 emergency services in Mecklenburg County, contact Roby Services online today.