Furnace Issues - Need Advice Please

[BokCh0y]

So here's the deal. I noticed that as of late, my furnace isn't turning on when it's supposed to. So say on my nest schedule, I have it set to turn pre-heat and heat the house to 21.5 at 645am and before it used to do this without any issues and by 645am, i'd wake up to a nice warm house.

Lately, I noticed that the nest will say it's heating, but it isn't - and this isn't just when it's scheduled to do, this happens at random times when I turn up the heat. So what I noticed does work when this occurs is I turn the heat down to say 19, wait about 20 seconds or so then turn it to 22 and then I can hear the the furnace turn on and start heating and when it heats, it does a damn good job still.

I don't think it's an issue with my furnace because I'm not having issues with it not heating up or heating enough, rather it's getting it to turn on.

Appreciate some insight and advice please.

Thanks!!!

[ExtraSlow]

Issue with the Nest trying to be "smart", or issues with the nest connecting to the furnace are my two guesses.

[BokCh0y]

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Issue with the Nest trying to be "smart", or issues with the nest connecting to the furnace are my two guesses.

I disabled it being "smart" cuz that motherfucker was alllll over the place like a drunk slut.

You think it could be my nest hey??? I thought that too and maybe it's just not triggering the furnace to turn on but I was thinking potentially more likely to be a circuit board on the furnace vs. the nest....thought it would be more common.

[Darell_n]

How old is your furnace and what generation of Nest is it? I think some of the older Nests had failing relays in them. Next time it acts up, check the furnace and see if it’s doing anything at all. Typically will have a blinking led on the control board showing a call for heat. If the furnace doesn’t react, I would check for 24 volts ac between the furnace W1 terminal and ground, then likely go shopping for a new stat if you read no power there. (Should check for loose connections behind the thermostat and at the furnace as well)

Keys to happiness: A loving wife, quiet kids and dumb appliances.

[BokCh0y]

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How old is your furnace and what generation of Nest is it? I think some of the older Nests had failing relays in them. Next time it acts up, check the furnace and see if it’s doing anything at all. Typically will have a blinking led on the control board showing a call for heat. If the furnace doesn’t react, I would check for 24 volts ac between the furnace W1 terminal and ground, then likely go shopping for a new stat if you read no power there. (Should check for loose connections behind the thermostat and at the furnace as well)

Keys to happiness: A loving wife, quiet kids and dumb appliances.

@darrell _n - it's great to hear you!!! I think you were the dude I was speaking to a while back about AC and not having enough cool air upstairs and you gave me tips on what to do!!!

Anyway, thanks for the advice as usual. My furnace is 20 years old now and my nest is a gen3 unit.

I will tell alexa to set the nest to 22 and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I can usually tell it is working as I can hear the furnace turn on, but when it doesn't turn on, I go in the app, set the heat to 19, then wait till the app screen goes from orange to grey, then i will use the app and set it to 22 again - screen turns orange on the app and this is when usually i hear the furnace turn on and then it starts pounding out heat.

Circuit board wise, i can't see it as the unit is sealed. I can wrench, but I don't mess with natural gas and furnaces cuz i'm chicken shit when it comes to that stuff.

Great quote btw - here's mine: girl who eats sweets, takes up two seats. Courtesy of Archie comics from the 70's and 80's hahaha.

[dj_rice]

Did you check your furnance LEDS and see if its giving any codes as Darrell mentioned? Thatd be the first step

[eblend]

Happen to have a cold air damper on your setup? I have an old furnace and have a damper that automatically opens when call for heat comes in....and if it gets stucks and doesn't open, my furnace never turns on. It was being sticky for a while (think worn gears in the motor)....and had the exact same issue you describing. Now it's basically always open and furnace always works. Some day I will get around to fixing it properly, or not....as I will be moving to a new place.

Those furnaces have panels that just pop off...nothing scary about that if you wanted to look on the circuit board. None of that has anything to do with actual gas line, so nothing scary

This is what a damper I have looks like:

[BokCh0y]

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Happen to have a cold air damper on your setup? I have an old furnace and have a damper that automatically opens when call for heat comes in....and if it gets stucks and doesn't open, my furnace never turns on. It was being sticky for a while (think worn gears in the motor)....and had the exact same issue you describing. Now it's basically always open and furnace always works. Some day I will get around to fixing it properly, or not....as I will be moving to a new place.

Those furnaces have panels that just pop off...nothing scary about that if you wanted to look on the circuit board. None of that has anything to do with actual gas line, so nothing scary

This is what a damper I have looks like:

Thanks for the info.

Where's that cold damper thing? It that thing that's right beside the furnace??? I ahve something similar to to that but haven't paid it much attention but I will certainly take a look at it tomorrow.

[eblend]

Yep, right beside the furnace. It would have a pipe on it leading from outside. It's designed to bring in combustion air for the furnace to use instead of sucking oxygen from surroundings. The damper is installed to block the free entry of cold air down the pipe, and would only open when there is a call for heat. In my house it was something I added on later, so i don't know if these things normally get installed or not. Normally it's just a big cylindrical thing without a flap.

[02WhiteWs6]

I have noticed very similar issue. I used to wake up to a warm house, now it takes 3 hrs to warm up, it is very lazy to run the fans and doesn't do full speed anymore on the schedule. Smart Home honeywell, system is only three years old. I'm going to replace battery in thermostat (not that it does anything) and do a full system reset. Also I'm going to unplug it from the outside world.

[Tik-Tok]

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I have noticed very similar issue. I used to wake up to a warm house, now it takes 3 hrs to warm up, it is very lazy to run the fans and doesn't do full speed anymore on the schedule. Smart Home honeywell, system is only three years old. I'm going to replace battery in thermostat (not that it does anything) and do a full system reset. Also I'm going to unplug it from the outside world.

That sounds more like clogged filters, or your second stage isn't kicking in (if you have a two stage system)

[schurchill39]

If you're not sure what's going on and want to isolate the furnace or the Nest you could always go pick up a $40 programmable Honeywell thermostat, swap it out and program it to see if the furnace starts acting appropriately. Then flip it on kijiji for $20 when you're done.

[ExtraSlow]

Or just jumper the control board, even easier.

[MOB68]

Woke up feeling cold and when I looked at my thermostat it was reading 13.5C.
Furnace quit running sometime overnight. I called the HVAC company and left a message on their after hours line, and then called ATCO who said they will respond within 24hrs...

Any suggestions? I removed the furnace filter and turned the power off for 10 minutes to see if it would reset, and that didn't help.
I can hear the pilot (?) burners come on every few minutes but it doesn't seem to ignite. The fan is working and its circulating air at least to avoid any cold spots.

I'm going to see if i can pick up a few space heaters to tide me over.

Furnace is a 1 year old Trane High efficiency dual stage. I didn't see any ice blockages on the combustion air or exhaust pipes. Furnace was serviced and the flame sensor was cleaned only a couple months ago..

[ExtraSlow]

Blocked intake. Get outside and clean that thing out.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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Woke up feeling cold and when I looked at my thermostat it was reading 13.5C.
Furnace quit running sometime overnight. I called the HVAC company and left a message on their after hours line, and then called ATCO who said they will respond within 24hrs...

Any suggestions? I removed the furnace filter and turned the power off for 10 minutes to see if it would reset, and that didn't help.
I can hear the pilot (?) burners come on every few minutes but it doesn't seem to ignite. The fan is working and its circulating air at least to avoid any cold spots.

I'm going to see if i can pick up a few space heaters to tide me over.

Furnace is a 1 year old Trane High efficiency dual stage. I didn't see any ice blockages on the combustion air or exhaust pipes. Furnace was serviced and the flame sensor was cleaned only a couple months ago..

Check for ice blockages a second and third time. Get your fingers right up in there. I know it's a PitA, but it's the 90% most likely problem and by far the most desirable problem because it's free.
Are there any blinking lights that can indicate an error code? They often blink in a pattern of short and long pulses (at least that's how my 10yo one does it).

[ExtraSlow]

Use a stick or 0lumbing snake to clean the intake. Not joking.

The furnace repair guy will take all day, or several days
So you have time to do this yourself.

Also, if that isn't it, get yourself 3-4 of the 1500w electric heaters and run them around the house. Turn up all heated floors, fireplaces, etc.

Roger rentals rents 120v heaters.

[ExtraSlow]

Let us know, and find out what codes it is throwing. Its worthwhile figuring that out yourself asap, even if you are just calling a furnace repair company.

Post here, let us know.

[MOB68]

More info:

When the furnace calls for heat, I hear a small fan (not the main blower) start up, and after a short while the typical sound of the burners attempting to come on, but the whole thing shuts down after a few seconds.
Looking through the sight glass window, its showing a code of "Ht2". No blinking lights that I can see, but I haven't attempted to remove the cover.

My hot water heater is working and the pilot light is on, so i know its likely not an issue with the main gas regulator outside the house.

I'll give the furnace intake/vent pipes a closer look but one has a 'T' on the end. Hoping its not glued on.
I picked up a bunch of space heaters and the temps seem to be holding so far.

Waiting for the Hvac tech (from PtP) to arrive. He did call me back earlier. Furnace is only a year old.

Thanks!

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I had a similar issue/symptons with my Goodman and it was an intermittent flame sensor. Usually the flame sensor is pretty easy to find locally, cheap and easy to change on most, you could try that if you’re sitting around today.