If you’ve heard much talk about furnaces and their components, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the “blower.” The blower is one of the essential components of the furnace, so we’ll tell you what it is, how it works, and what to expect if it develops problems.
What It Is
The blower is one of the most appropriately named components in your furnace: its sole job is to blow hot air through the ducts and into your home.
An important distinction to be made is that there is bother a blower motor and a blower fan. They are often referred to together as the “blower,” but the majority of problems you encounter will be with the blower motor itself. After all, the blower fan is just an attachment to the motor.
How it Works
When your furnace starts up, it first needs to create the heated air. If it’s a natural gas furnace, it will use a process to combust natural gas. If it’s an electric furnace, it will use electricity instead. The warm air is created through a heat exchanger and will then be ready to go. But without any mechanism to assist it, the warm air has no way of going anywhere.
That’s where the blower comes in. The blower motor turns the blower fan, sending the air through your air ducts and into each room of the home.
If your blower motor is single-speed, it will operate at 100% speed until the thermostat indicates that the desired temperature has been reached. If the blower motor is variable speed, it will be able to operate at different speeds, thus allowing it to save energy.
What If It Stops Working?
If the blower motor stops working, you’ll need to call in for furnace repair in Fort Wayne, IN right away. Here are some of the reasons why:
- Your home won’t get warm: As you may have guessed, a broken blower will not send heated air into the home. Your furnace won’t know the difference, however, so it will simply continue to make hot air until it triggers the limit switch.
- Risk of overheating: One job of the limit switch is to turn off the heat in case the air inside the cabinet becomes too hot. All that air with nowhere to go is a good reason for the limit switch to be triggered. With too much use, the limit switch might break and not be able to prevent the system from overheating.
Why Would It Stop Working?
Among the causes of furnace blower problems, a few of them include:
- Broken or bad blower motor belt. Even if the motor itself is operating just fine, the belt that spins the fan may be worn out or might have snapped.
- If you hear a screeching noise, that might be due to a blower motor that desperately needs lubrication.
- Banging noises during operation can be due to a problem with the blower assembly. It could be as severe as needing the entire blower replaced, or as simple as needing to tighten the motor mounts.
Contact Collier’s Comfort today if you suspect your furnace has blower motor issues.