00:00:00.190 --> 00:00:02.620 My furnace is on lockout! 00:00:02.620 --> 00:00:03.750 What do I do? 00:00:03.750 --> 00:00:05.360 Try hitting the reset button. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:09.740 That’s the type of advice tech support gives – if in doubt, reboot. 00:00:09.740 --> 00:00:14.679 If the furnace is locked out because it has an error message, resetting it sometimes fixes 00:00:14.679 --> 00:00:15.679 it. 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:16.679 And what if it doesn’t? 00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:19.780 You could try to turn it off via the breaker and turning it back on. 00:00:19.780 --> 00:00:24.020 Normally that’s the solution if the furnace has completely shut down. 00:00:24.020 --> 00:00:28.800 One possible cause of a lockout is when the furnace thinks something is wrong, such as 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.320 a drop in gas pressure or overheating. 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:36.449 Right now, the only thing overheating is me under my collar, and worrying about how big 00:00:36.449 --> 00:00:38.739 a hole this will burn in my wallet. 00:00:38.739 --> 00:00:43.460 You’d prefer a shut down furnace and cold house to one that is freezing because it burned 00:00:43.460 --> 00:00:44.930 a hole in the wall. 00:00:44.930 --> 00:00:48.059 What could cause it to think there’s an unsafe condition? 00:00:48.059 --> 00:00:52.889 If there is a gas leak in the furnace, if there is a blocked airflow in or inability 00:00:52.889 --> 00:00:58.621 to move hot air out, a damaged gas control nozzle or gunk built up on the burner, all 00:00:58.621 --> 00:01:00.640 of those could make it overheat. 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:03.469 Yet the unit is giving us a cold shoulder now. 00:01:03.469 --> 00:01:09.120 The flame sensor or temperature sensor could be malfunctioning, reporting an unsafe condition 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:10.120 though nothing is wrong. 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:12.470 That’s a reason to call in a pro. 00:01:12.470 --> 00:01:14.870 Another cause could be a damaged limit switch. 00:01:14.870 --> 00:01:16.660 I don’t even know what that is. 00:01:16.660 --> 00:01:20.730 If you’re lucky, you have an oil fired furnace running out of oil. 00:01:20.730 --> 00:01:24.020 No, I’m not, given the price of heating oil. 00:01:24.020 --> 00:01:25.910 Then watch the thermostat next winter. 00:01:25.910 --> 00:01:30.561 Too bad it is not blowing cold air, where I could at least check the thermostat as the 00:01:30.561 --> 00:01:34.020 cause instead of assuming it is an equipment failure. 00:01:34.020 --> 00:01:39.720 It may just be that the flame sensor does not sense a flame, so the unit locked out. 00:01:39.720 --> 00:01:42.330 Light the flame and you may be good to go. 00:01:42.330 --> 00:01:45.680 It is annoying enough to have to re-light an oven’s pilot light. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:50.490 The pilot light may be failing to light up the burner, which is a totally different problem. 00:01:50.490 --> 00:01:52.890 Which is yet another reason to call in a pro. 00:01:52.890 --> 00:01:56.060 If the heat exchanger gets too hot, the unit would lockout. 00:01:56.060 --> 00:01:59.920 It is a heat exchanger; it is supposed to get hot. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:04.060 It can get too hot if there is soot built up or a colony of dust bunnies. 00:02:04.060 --> 00:02:08.429 And you’d rather the furnace shuts off than have a furnace fire. 00:02:08.429 --> 00:02:10.729 I wish this was something easy to fix. 00:02:10.729 --> 00:02:15.840 If you’re lucky, it is just a really dirty air filter blocking air flow. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:18.170 Replacing the filter then fixes the furnace. 00:02:18.170 --> 00:02:22.420 I bet this is where the low cost maintenance visits turn into cost savings. 00:02:22.420 --> 00:02:25.050 You could always clean the air filters and ducts yourself. 00:02:25.050 --> 00:02:27.760 I’d rather pay someone else to do the dirty work. 00:02:27.760 --> 00:02:32.410 You’re going to have to pay an even higher price for the greasy, smoky and oily work 00:02:32.410 --> 00:02:35.930 of fixing the furnace if resetting it does not fix the lockout.
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