Heating repairs sometimes include the weirdest of situations. One of the more bizarre situations are furnaces on fire. There are three scenarios where this can really happen, and there are ways to both repair and prevent these issues.
Oil Furnace Line Catches Fire
Oil furnaces are tricky things. Oil is fed through a lengthy pipe system, pumped into a chamber where it is ignited, and then it heats air that is blown up into the house. When an oil furnace's pipeline is either blocked or leaking significantly, it can sometimes catch fire because it is straining too hard to get oil past a blockage, or a spark or small flame ignites the leak. You should immediately cut power to the furnace, and then, if you can without danger to yourself, close the valve of the line that feeds oil to your furnace from the fuel tank. After fire and rescue teams arrive to put the fire out, your HVAC technician can examine the components and begin repairing and replacing the parts that were damaged by the fire. As for prevention, it is important to have oil fuel lines flushed and "cleaned" regularly to avoid blockages.
Over-Igniting in an Electrical Furnace
Faulty ignition switches in electrical furnaces sometimes "over-ignite." The switch is triggered as it would normally be triggered to heat air, except in this situation it puts on an extra burst. It is essentially an electrical malfunction that jump-starts a fire by lighting up any burnable source of material closest to the ignition switch. Thankfully, most of the time, all it really does is melt a few parts inside the furnace and stop, but it can be worse. The HVAC technician has to remove all of the melted parts, examine what remains to make sure it is okay, and then replace the parts. Yearly maintenance checks may or may not catch and prevent anything that causes these freak furnace fires where electrical furnaces are concerned.
Natural Gas Blow Ups
Natural gas furnaces have release valves that need to be closed when the furnace is not in use. Sometimes you may close these valves, but they may still leak a little. If you are gone for a day or more and return and smell the gas, get out. A natural gas blow up can happen any time that enough of the gas is leaking or left to leak into the home. If a fire does not result, the HVAC technician can check the valves and make sure they are repaired and closed. If a fire does result, it is likely to be quite explosive, and more than just your furnace will need replacing.
For more information, visit websites like https://www.imsheatingandair.com.
Share28 July 2019
The quality of the air in your home is something that you should keep in mind every day. If the air that you breathe each day is filled with impurities, it can cause you to get sick more often and complicate matters if anyone in your home suffers from asthma or allergies. This blog is all about purifying the air in your home. You will learn everything about filtration systems and filters for your heating system to what you can do around the home to keep the air as clean as possible and create a healthy living space for your family.
