It seems electric heaters fail more often toward mid to late winter in the gulf coast area and while I don’t have the exact reason why, I suspect it’s due to the colder weather causing longer run times which in turn could cause the components that may be on the edge of failure, to finally give up.
Typically, we don’t have this problem with our gas furnaces because almost all of us have a gas furnace sized to match our a/c blower requirements which makes our furnaces over-sized and results with lower run times giving generally more durability.
Electric furnaces are somewhat more of a custom fit since the installing company can order the electric heating capacity that suits the buildings size better.
A great example of an electric heater can be found on most kitchen counter tops in the form of a toaster. If you’ve seen the glowing coil inside your toaster while waiting for your English muffin to pop up, then you can understand that something similar is happening in your electric heater only on much larger scale and with air circulation to help get that warmth into the living space.
Common failures are one or more broken heat strips resulting in the lack of adequate heat to your home and stuck on or stuck off relays that result in continuous heat operation or failure to come on. Failure to come on is uncomfortable but you can always wear a sweater while waiting for our service professional to arrive. However, failure to turn off is something you’re going to want to try to do something about… quickly.
The 1st thing we suggest is to turn off the power supply in the breaker panel for electric heater. Hopefully it’s marked in the main breaker panel of your home since this makes it easier to find. If the heater breaker is not marked, mark it with a marker “heater” for easy viewing. This will make the heater breaker easy to find if you ever experience a similar situation.
The very best thing you can do to prevent this situation is to opt for annual heater and furnace check ups. AirVantage has special pricing on this and will go a long way to prevent these types of problems.
If you find yourself waking up sweating bullets, chances are a relay is stuck on. Call AirVantage service experts now… 409-925-6171. We are available to help and we’ll be happy to speak with you about all your comfort needs.
Thank you,
John VanDrunen
AirVantage Heating & Air Conditioning
(409) 925-6171