Issues with Your Furnace Heat Exchanger and Their Signs

When your Morton Grove, IL home’s furnace is working properly, you probably won’t spend much time thinking about the heat exchanger. This part is a series of metal tubes. A problem with the heat exchanger not only impacts your comfort, but it can also affect your health, safety, and well-being. Be aware of these four signs of a problem with the heat exchanger.

Unusual Odors

A crack in one of the metal tubes may cause the interior components to get hot. When hot, these metals release strong, unpleasant odors. You may smell an odor like formaldehyde or rotten eggs. According to the Department of Energy, unsealed combustion chambers have frequent problems with back-drafts of combustion gases.

Visible Changes in the Combustion Chamber

Look through the furnace’s viewing area. If you see soot or ash buildup, there could be a crack in the heater’s exchanger causing incomplete combustion. Visible rust or corrosion also suggests a problem with the exchanger.

Change in Flame Appearance

Properly functioning furnaces have a steady blue flame. If you see a yellow-orange flame or a flame that flickers or wavers, the heat exchanger may be damaged. The combustion chamber could also have an air leak. Both of these issues require professional diagnosis and repair by our qualified service technicians.

Illness in Household Members

A cracked heat exchanger may allow combustion byproducts to mix with the air you breathe. These gases include sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide. When you breathe these gases, you and your household members may develop symptoms of flu-like illness. If you or anyone in your home has nausea, headache, fatigue, or dizziness and your furnace isn’t working properly, a damaged heat exchanger could be to blame.

For more tips about the signs of furnace heat exchanger problems, take a look at Assurance Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.’s furnace repair services, or get in touch with our qualified service technicians today.