Furnace Failure and Frozen Pipes

During the recent Arctic cold that moved thru the Colorado Springs region we received numerous calls from homeowners requesting emergency repair service for heating systems that failed. Many of these situations could have easily been avoided with a little preventative maintenance to the systems. We found many furnaces that failed due to overheated blower motors and dirty flame sensors. The majority of the motor failures were the result of severely clogged air filters, resulting in diminished airflow and thus additional strain on the motor itself. In some cases the motor itself did not fail but the furnace overheated, causing the limit safety control to shut off the gas flow to the furnace, resulting in a no-heat condition. In many of these cases a $400-$500 middle of the night repair could have been avoided if a $5 filter had been replaced on a monthly basis as recommended by most furnace manufacturers.
Dirty flame sensors also caused many furnace breakdowns. If the furnace had been serviced during the fall, this situation also would have been avoided. Every gas furnace should be cleaned and checked once a year. Approximately 75% of heating system failures that we encounter are the result of dirt, dust, dirty filters and other preventable causes that would have been avoided had the furnace been cleaned and serviced by a professional heating technician.
Unfortunately, many homes had water pipes freeze during the harsh conditions. This resulted in hundreds if not thousands of dollars in additional damages to the homes and property that in many cases could have been completely avoided by simply keeping a clean filter in the heating system or having had an annual service performed.

www.bassetheating.com