The Lucky Breaker

Okay, so your heat is off and you’ve checked everything. You still have enough fuel. The thermostat is turned up. The pilot light is on (if you have one). The furnace switch is on.  And you’ve even tried turning this switch off for a few minutes and then back on. And still there’s no heat.

Before you panic or call your plumbing and heating company, first check to see if the circuit breaker connected to your heating system has tripped. This happens from time to time.

First, turn your furnace switch off (using that red switch at the head of the stairs going down to your basement, or using the power switch on the side of your furnace). Then go to your electrical box, locate the fuse or circuit breaker for your heating system (hopefully it’s labeled). Is the fuse or circuit breaker “tripped” (half-way between On and Off)? If so, this is your problem. Turn it to Off, then wait a couple of seconds and turn it all the way to On. It should stay on. Then, when you turn your furnace switch back on, you should hear the furnace come on. You’ve just found your lucky breaker!

But what if the circuit breaker doesn’t stay on when you turn it on? This means there is either a short in the electrical circuit to the gas burner, or it means you have a faulty circuit breaker. To correct this, you can replace the circuit breaker yourself, if you want to—and it’s not hard to do. First, turn the circuit breaker off. Then remove the circuit breaker, take it to your local hardware store and get a replacement. Then install the new circuit breaker and switch it to on. If your heating system comes on, you know the circuit breaker was the problem. If you’re not comfortable replacing the circuit breaker  yourself, you’ll need to call an electrician.

And if, after your replace the circuit breaker, the heating system still doesn’t come on, just call ClearView.

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