What to Do When a LENNOX Heater Won’t Turn On: Now What?

Nothing can be worse on a cold winter day than to have your heater producing no heat. There are a few reasons why a heater won’t stay lit, and while you shouldn’t endeavor to repair a malfunctioning heater on your own, it is helpful to understand why it can happen. Have you ever seen your blower capacitor? It usually looks like a big battery. Anyway, the capacitor starts your furnace when the thermostat setting tells it to turn on. Capacitors have tolerance levels. If the tolerance is below a certain level, your blower might not achieve the proper RPM. In some cases, the capacitor just won't start the blower. The worst case scenario? A dying capacitor leads to a blower malfunction, which is a really costly repair. Either way, your heat won't turn on. Since capacitor failure is so common, we always check the tolerance of your capacitor(s) during routine inspections. If they're on their way to a slow death, we'll let you know it's time to replace them. Heating your home with a heat pump? If you are, it's possible for your refrigerant level to get a bit too low. When that happens, your heat strips might come on more often than you want them to. And we all know that heat strips can lead to exorbitant utility bills. Not good. If you recognize your heat strips coming on with increasing frequency, it might be time to increase your refrigerant charge. If the level is too low for too long, the compressor might overheat and fail. It's much less costly to recharge the refrigerant (and fix any leaks) than to replace your compressor (and deal with having no heat). In some cases, it might even be more cost effective to replace the system with a new one that uses a newer refrigerant! In any case, always keep an eye on your auxiliary/strip heat status in the winter. Your heater is your main source of warmth at home, so whenever you experience problems, call a professional helper for repair. We’ve been performing heating repair for many years, we bring all of this experience, knowledge, and expertise every job we have.