Your furnace is designed to keep your home nice and warm during the cold months of winter. In certain parts of the country, furnaces are already switched on. Did your furnace switch on without any issues? Your furnace has been idle during the cooling season, and some heating systems are just not ready to keep your home warm. This is often the situation when you neglect to have it serviced before winter arrives.

What is a Short Cycling Furnace?

Many furnaces will short cycle. This happens when the furnace starts and stops too quickly and too often. In other words, the heating cycle and the resting cycle are too short for the furnace to accomplish anything. Short cycling happens more often with air conditioners, but it happens with your furnace too.

Reasons Your Furnace Turns On & Off Frequently

1. Oversized Furnace. Experiencing short cycling as soon as you’ve had a new furnace installed is a clear indication that the furnace is too powerful for the size of your home. This is bad news as it can cost you in the long run. We all want our home to get warm fast, but we want it to happen in the most economical way possible. The way that happens is with the right sized furnace for the size of your home. If your furnace is too big, it will use more energy than needed to get your home heated to the temperature you have set. Too much power can also create uneven distribution and will have your furnace turn on again too quickly. This will increase your energy bills and cause more wear and tear on your heating system.
2. Furnace Overheating. Your furnace may also be short cycling to protect itself from damage if it’s getting too hot too often. The heat exchanger can crack if the furnace becomes too hot. This is a serious problem as it can cause carbon monoxide leaks that can be deadly. Even a furnace that short cycles to protect itself can lead to cracks. Overheating typically occurs when airflow is restricted and happens when hot air becomes trapped in the space closest to the heat exchanger.
3. Furnace Thermostat Not Working. Your furnace operates according to the thermostat setting. If there’s an issue with the thermostat, there may be short cycling. Even if your thermostat is working properly, you may still experience short cycling if it’s not installed correctly or it’s too close to a heat source. Heat sources like an oven or a sunny window can trick the thermostat into thinking the space is to hot and will create short cycles.

Furnace Repair, Replacement Services & More in Springfield, Granby, Holyoke, South Hadley, Monson, Chicopee & Agawam Massachusetts

Short cycling can be considered a silver lining as it signals something is wrong with your furnace. Not only is short cycling an efficiency problem, it can also increase the wear and tear on your system. This all leads to more money out of your pocket and an uncomfortable home this winter. If you think your furnace is short cycling, contact Ambient Heating & Air Conditioning to have a licensed HVAC technician determine why it’s happening and fix the problem.