A smoking furnace is never a good sign. In fact, unless you’re out by the firepit or camping with the family, smoke should never be something that you take lightly. As the saying goes, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” and your furnace should never be on-fire to the point where it smokes.
Today, we want to talk about two things. The first will be why a furnace might start expelling smoke. We’ll discuss the whole combustion process and how a furnace in good condition deals with the byproducts of the process. This should show you just how dangerous of a situation a smoking furnace can be.
Secondly, we’ll be talking about what you should do if your furnace is starting to expel smoke into your home. Here’s a hint: you’re going to want to call our team for expert furnace repair in Plano, TX!
Where Does Smoke Come From?
When a furnace runs, it injects natural gas into a combustion chamber where a flame burns it and turns it into heat. Normally, the gases that come from combustion like carbon monoxide, water vapors, and smoke, can get sent through the exhaust port to the outside of your house where they are successfully vented out of your home. Think of this part of your furnace like a flue in a chimney that sends all of the toxic materials out while keeping breathable air inside.
Now, when a furnace is smoking, something is clearly going wrong.
- There could be a blockage in the exhaust port that’s causing the gases to get vented back into your house. Sometimes critters can nest in the exhaust port and cause this type of problem, so make sure you investigate the exhaust of your furnace.
- There could be a crack in the heat exchanger component of your furnace. This component is responsible for exchanging the heat from combustion with breathable air in your home. A crack in this part means that smoke or carbon monoxide is leaking through the system and into your home.
What Should You Do About Your Smoking Furnace?
So, now that you know how dangerous and bad a smoking furnace can be, we need to explore your options. Firstly, never let it keep running. A smoking furnace will continue to blow smoke into your house and increase the chances of a fire or safety hazard. It’s important that you turn off the system, or if that’s even getting to hard, that you exit your home and call for support.
Remember, if you’ve got a gas furnace, there is combustion taking place inside the system. Normally, this is perfectly healthy and fine, but in the case of a smoking furnace, it’s a dangerous fire that needs to be addressed by a professional.
Did we mention that our team provides 24/7 emergency services for homeowners in dire need? You can call our hotline once you’re in a safe place and explain the problem to us. We’ll get your furnace fixed up and make sure you’ve got reliable heating for the foreseeable future.
