# Home heating problem



## TechieJeff (Jan 3, 2010)

Hello Tech support guy forums,

Coincidentally enough, my first post here is not related to computer technology, hehe. 

I'm having a problem with my home's heating. Our heater will be kicking on all night (as the matter of fact, its on right now). It will click on for about a minute, then turn off. I have a feeling its an installation problem. Our basement is quite cold, and old. Could this have anything to do with it? 

Thanks,
Jeff


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

i think we need a little more detail make and models would help 
Do you have a mulitmeter / volt meter and are you able to use it ?
Is the thermostate working ok 
Would there be a frost stat on the boiler which is kicking in - that will start the boiler and depending on how wired may not switch the pump on and so only keeps the boiler safe

Oil / Gas

what country are you in ?

As this is mainly a tech forum, and not sure how much expertise we have on heating systems 
I have used the following before
http://forum.plumbingpages.com/technical-help-vf9.html 
http://www.diydata.com/planning/central_heating/boiler.php
http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/


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## TechieJeff (Jan 3, 2010)

etaf said:


> i think we need a little more detail make and models would help
> Do you have a mulitmeter / volt meter and are you able to use it ?
> Is the thermostate working ok
> Would there be a frost stat on the boiler which is kicking in - that will start the boiler and depending on how wired may not switch the pump on and so only keeps the boiler safe
> ...


I have a Gas furnas, and I live in the United States. I believe it may be something in the Thermostat, i have been messing with it for about an hour now and each time it seems to stay on a bit longer of an increment, but still persists to shut off before the requested temperature is met. I'll probably end up calling our local heating company, cause I have no idea what i'm doing.


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## Knotbored (Jun 5, 2004)

How cold is it outside? Perhaps your vent tubes have frozen- look for a half-inch pipe hear the bottom of the furnace draining water outside. One cold winter I had to mount a lightbulb under my exposed furnace until my incompleted garage door was installed. Another thing moght be a fan fuse has blown and furnace shuts down before it overheats/ resets after a few minutes/ tries to restart/ shuts down before it overheats---


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## Koot (Nov 25, 2007)

If you don't already have the thermostat's owners manual you might want to try to find it and download it from the Internet. You might want to find out what the thermostat's "differential" is set at. If the differential is set for just one degree the thermostat will cycle the heating system On and Off as soon as the temperature climbs just one degree. Most heating systems have a suggested differential (e.g. 2 degrees) and all thermostats (even old manual mercury bulb types) have the ability for owners to set the differential to whatever they wish. You might want to check this first before moving on to the heating system itself.

However, it sounds like you could be experiencing a problem in the heating system itself where maybe a limit sensor is turning the system off. I don't believe you mentioned what happens if you set the thermostat to call for a multiple degree increase in temperature (e.g. going from say 68 degrees to 78 degrees). What happens? Does the heating system run continuously for a lengthy period of time until the thermostat setting is reached? This would be a good test to see if a sensor may be turning the system off...and then re-setting, and doing it again, and again.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I'd try a simple test first. Jumper the thermostat to call for continuous heat, and then see if the furnace still cycles on and off. If so, forget about the thermostat and call for service.


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## TechieJeff (Jan 3, 2010)

Knotbored said:


> How cold is it outside? Perhaps your vent tubes have frozen- look for a half-inch pipe hear the bottom of the furnace draining water outside. One cold winter I had to mount a lightbulb under my exposed furnace until my incompleted garage door was installed. Another thing moght be a fan fuse has blown and furnace shuts down before it overheats/ resets after a few minutes/ tries to restart/ shuts down before it overheats---


Hey,this did it!

I went down to the basement, and found broken glass. I suppose a cat, or goof balls broke it. Anyways, I suspect that's why it was kicking on and off (to regulate the temperature). So, like the ******* I am, I put a piece of carpet over the window until I replace it.

Its about 10-15 Degrees farenhite around here pretty much all winter. I live in a small town in Illinois.

Thanks for the replies, so helpful!

Respectfully,
Jeff


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

TechieJeff said:


> Hey,this did it!
> 
> I went down to the basement, and found broken glass. I suppose a cat, or goof balls broke it. Anyways, I suspect that's why it was kicking on and off (to regulate the temperature). So, like the ******* I am, I put a piece of carpet over the window until I replace it.
> 
> ...


Hello, Jeff! Thanks for posting back.

I am inquisitive, though. Was it the fuse blown, or did the basement get so cold the drain pipe froze? So when you covered it up, did it start working correctly?

Let us know if it remedied the situation.


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## TechieJeff (Jan 3, 2010)

Yeah, the window that was broken caused a big cold draft to flow in, thus keeping the heater on 24/7. I assume it was that it was a "self defense" mechanism inside the furnace, as stated above, to keep the heater from overheating. Once I blocked the draft it seemed to start working properly again. 

Now the biggest problem is going to be finding a replacement window (This house is easly 80+ years old, window sizes are hard to find that match). 

Thanks for all the help, again 

Jeff


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

TechieJeff said:


> Yeah, the window that was broken caused a big cold draft to flow in, thus keeping the heater on 24/7. I assume it was that it was a "self defense" mechanism inside the furnace, as stated above, to keep the heater from overheating. Once I blocked the draft it seemed to start working properly again.
> 
> Now the biggest problem is going to be finding a replacement window (This house is easly 80+ years old, window sizes are hard to find that match).
> 
> ...


:up:

Good luck with that window. Not sure how much got broke out. I would think a glass repair place could change the individual glass pane(s) out for you.


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## Knotbored (Jun 5, 2004)

Replacing a glass pane in a wood framed window is not difficult and inexpensive glass panes can be purchased cut to size at any of the big hardware stores. The glass is wedged in place with tiny triangles you press in (carefully) with a screwdriver then cover with calking and/or a wood bead. I had to replace one back when I was 14 from a badly hit baseball- took me a day to figure it out and 10 minutes to fix it.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

This will depend on the specific sash design. You're speaking of the old wooden sash, but most basement windows nowadays are aluminum, and they probably have a rubber bead glazing that you remove and press back into place with the new glass.


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## Koot (Nov 25, 2007)

TechieJeff said:


> Yeah, the window that was broken caused a big cold draft to flow in, thus keeping the heater on 24/7. I assume it was that it was a "self defense" mechanism inside the furnace, as stated above, to keep the heater from overheating. Once I blocked the draft it seemed to start working properly again.
> 
> Now the biggest problem is going to be finding a replacement window (This house is easly 80+ years old, window sizes are hard to find that match).
> 
> ...


I find it odd that a draft from the broken basement window causes the furnace to run continuously when it is the thermostat (in the heated portion of the house) that looks to be satisfied when the set point temperature is reached, which then stops the operation of the furnace. Is the broken basement window feeding cold air into the heated portion of the house? I hope not!

As for the furnace turning off periodically so it doesn't overheat - that tells me the furnace was not capable of raising the temperature enough to satisfy the thermostat setting. Why is that? Again, I find this odd.

Something isn't adding up in my opinion.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Koot said:


> Something isn't adding up in my opinion.


I'm glad I'm not the only one that found this really strange.


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## TechieJeff (Jan 3, 2010)

Yeah its still not fixed, I thought it was  

I called my dad to see if he could come over and take a look at it, haha.


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## Koot (Nov 25, 2007)

TechieJeff said:


> Yeah its still not fixed, I thought it was
> 
> I called my dad to see if he could come over and take a look at it, haha.


I didn't think so. Let us know the outcome.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Did you try my suggestion of simply jumpering the thermostat to eliminate it as a possibility? I suspect this will turn out to be a furnace issue.


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## Knotbored (Jun 5, 2004)

Just one more consideration.
I replaced my propane tank last summer and didn't test out my furnace for a week later. It seems when replaced the lines to the furnace purged of gas and it took about a dozen tries before the furnace fired up. Durring this the furnace recirculating pump would hum, the fan would come on for 3 secconds, I would hear a crackle as a spark tried to fire it, then shutdown for about 30 seconds. Then do it all over again.
Is there a chance you refilled an empty propane tank? Could there be frozen moisture in the propane line? Could the valve at the tank be closed off?


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## K7M (Feb 27, 2000)

Is this propane or natural gas??? Is this a new install??? If it is propane, what size tanks are you using. If the tanks aren't large enough the lp will not vaporize at a fast enough rate to supply the furnace. a 100 lb tank at 0 deg will only vaporize for 45-50,000 btu. the average house furnace needs at least 2 100# tanks or a 100 gal. tank to vaporize for a 100,000 btu furnace. If it is natural gas, light your stove or other gas appliance and see what the flame does when the furnace tries to light. A friend had to have the gas co. come in and change the regulator on his house.


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