You might notice your heat not working in your house. I.e. The thermostat calls for heat, but the heat still does not come on. This can happen for many reasons. A broken thermostat, incorrect wiring at either the furnace or t-stat ends, tripped circuit breakers, blown fuses, loss of gas pressure, or a broken HVAC system could cause this. Here, we describe some of these causes, and then offer troubleshooting tips and hints to correct them. First, we look at what might go wrong in the thermostat itself. Then we talk about the power and furnace issues that can also cause the heating not to function.
If the heat not working problem happened when you installed a new thermostat, you may have goofed up in how you wired it. Perhaps you’ve reversed the W and Y wires. This would run the cooling stage though the t-stat is actually set to heat. Other symptoms may arise too. These depend on which wires and how many of them you have connected to the wrong thermostat terminals.
Check for correct wiring at both ends of the t-stat cable. At the t-stat, attach all wires to the right terminals in the wall plate. Then, do the same at the furnace end. Get help from a professional heating system repairman if you feel insecure matching these wires up with the right terminals.
The solid copper wires in the control cable can break if flexed too much. Or, maybe the installer stapled the wire with too much pressure or stapler misalignment, and nicked the cable.
This issue normally appears during new heater testing. But sometimes, it might not surface for years. Why? Because the settling of wall studs through the years can flex these wires that installers often fasten to them. So, after decades, this flexing can wear wire coverings, causing faulty heat operation.
Replace the cable between the heater and t-stat. Avoid tightly stapling the wire, and don’t fasten it more than you must for a secure installation. Lay it loosely.
You can set thermostats way lower than the heating system can deliver. During a cold time outside for example, you might set the heat temperature to 74 degrees. But your furnace moves only enough BTUs to warm to 72 degrees. On particularly cold days, it may feel like there’s no heat output, even though the heat is operating normally.
If you do these things but still need more heat in the house, then try the following.
Dirty air filters can restrict airflow though the furnace’s heat exchanger, and cut the heat output to near zero in extreme cases. Clogged filters reduce how much heat you get. How so? Dirty filters and fan blades move air less well. Plus, they make more noise besides.
Sometimes, home builders cut corners to cut costs when figuring furnace size. They want the cheapest heat unit they can get by with. Sadly, these cut-rate models are often too small thus, to control the heating temperature well. So, on very frosty days, you might see the problem show up.
Also, over time with heat pumps especially, their compressors lose efficiency. Why? Because either their valves start leaking. Or the refrigerant leaks out through small holes in the piping. As more refrigerant leaks away, the less efficient the heat system becomes. In this case, the unit will produce little or no heat even though it’s running.
Dirty heat pump coils, again, slow airflow through the condenser outside, and the evaporator unit inside. Thus, dirt can interfere with the heating system’s efficiency. Dirty coils lowers the BTUs per hour that a heat pump can pump for example. That could mean that the system cannot keep your quarters as warm as your thermostat setting calls for.
It’s common for furnaces to fail to keep up when the weather outside is very chilly. They might run constantly yet still fail to keep up. Now there may be nothing wrong with the thermostat per se. And, there might be nothing the matter with the furnace either. The issue might be that your central heating system is too small to overcome the entering cold from outside. Again, a very cold day can make it feel inside like there’s no heat.
You may be getting SOME heat, but not enough to hold room temperature at the desired value.
If your house lacks enough insulation, this worsens the low (or no) heat issue. Indeed, much warmth leaves through cracks around windows, walls, and doors. Thus, the furnace works harder to bring the house up to the set temperature. Indeed, there may be many BTUs leaking in in this way. So many BTUs, that the central heating system cannot backfill. The furnace cannot thus, maintain the set temperature. So, your heat never reaches that set temperature.
As should be clear, the Honeywell thermostat not heating up problem in homes has many causes. Plus, most of them lie beyond the thermostat. A poorly insulated home, a furnace that’s too small, leaky windows and doors also contribute. All of these make the HVAC system work too hard to heat your home. In many homes there’s little coolness to spare due to poor HVAC sizing. Sadly, the fix for this often costs a lot. Why? Because it means replacing windows and doors, or adding more insulation. Or you may need to upgrade your furnace or add more supplemental heaters to your home.
But we hope that now, you know what might cause the Honeywell thermostat not heating up your home issue. Knowing the causes often helps in choosing the right fixes. Even though the best fix may cost the most, at least now, you have the data in front of you. Good luck, and choose the fixes wisely.
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