The cold winter months in West Virginia can put on a strain on your heating system. Today, we’ll review some of the most common HVAC issues you might encounter this season. We’ll also offer our tips and tricks on how to address these issues.
Inconsistent Room Temperatures & Airflow Issues
Have you ever noticed that your living room feels almost 10 degrees warmer than your kitchen? If your rooms aren’t being heated properly, some rooms in your house may feel drastically cooler than others. Airflow issues are the most common culprit of uneven room temperatures throughout a home. Check all of your registers and returns in your home to ensure no furniture, toys, or dust or debris are blocking your indoor airflow. You may also want to check your windows and doors for air leaks which can affect your indoor temperature. Lastly, if you’ve ensured that everything is sealed and clear, you might have a clog or break in a fan motor. If there is an issue with your heating system’s fan motor, contact us and we’ll be happy to come to fix your system right away.
Cycling Heat
Does your thermostat constantly ‘click’ on and off? If your heater is cycling on and off too quickly, it can cause unnecessary wear and tear on your HVAC system. Oftentimes, this happens because of a dirty or clogged filter in your home. The first thing you can do to help is changing your air filters, and check all of your air registers around your home to check for blockage or any disruptions to the airflow. After you do the following and you’re still hearing your thermostat ‘clicking’, you may want to make sure your thermostat is working properly and not broken.
Broken Thermostat
Over time, the wiring of your thermostat may start to degrade or deteriorate, and start to improperly function. Sometimes, you might think there is something wrong with your entire HVAC system when it might just be a simple wiring issue with your thermostat. If your HVAC system is cycling heat, over-or-underheating your rooms, or reading the temperature wrong in your home, you might have a broken thermostat.
If you’d like to check to see if your thermostat is broken, you can play around with the settings to try and adjust the temperature in your home, and see if your HVAC system responds. If you’re finding you’ve adjusted the thermostat but nothing is happening in your home, you may need professional help replacing or fixing your thermostat.
Frozen Pipes & Coils
When the outdoor temperatures drop below freezing and ice accumulates, you might notice that your pipes or coils are also starting to freeze and stop functioning properly. If this happens to your pipes, you will need to work on thawing them out before continuing to run your water supply. Keeping your home at a minimum temperature of 55 degrees should keep your pipes from freezing. However, should you find yourself in this situation, you’ll want to turn off your water supply until you can thaw your pipes. Sometimes, a frozen pipe can burst which may cause even more damage to your home. If you’re in this situation, we recommend contacting a plumbing professional as soon as possible.
If your HVAC coils are starting to freeze, there may be an issue with your heat pump. The issue may lie within your defrost controller, a valve, or your fan. Scheduling regular maintenance for your system can help prevent this situation from happening to you. However if you find yourself with a frozen HVAC coil, we recommend calling us immediately to help troubleshoot the source of the issue and to get your HVAC system back up and running again.
If you’re due for an HVAC check-up or have any questions about preparing your home for winter, contact our technicians today. You can contact us at (304) 212-2004.