High Gas Furnace Costs: Is The Thermostat To Blame?
The current global energy crisis has led to rocketing prices for natural gas and other fossil fuels, so you may not be surprised if your gas furnace is more expensive to run than it was last year. However, if your furnace's running costs have suddenly shot up in recent months, you should also check for faults with the furnace itself.
Any number of different problems can cause gas furnaces to use more gas than usual, such as clogged air filters or leaking ductwork. Faults with your thermostat can also cause gas furnaces to use more fuel than necessary. A faulty thermostat can cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year.
How Do Faulty Thermostats Increase Gas Furnace Costs?
The thermostat is one of the most important components of any gas furnace system and it lets you control the activation of the furnace to bring your home to the exact temperature you desire. A number of different thermostat problems can cause your furnace to use more gas than necessary, leading to higher running costs:
Temperature Sensor Issues
Problems with the thermostat's internal heat sensors are a common cause of excessively high costs. Faulty temperature sensors may not accurately measure the temperature in your rooms, causing the furnace to run for too long. If your home frequently gets too hot, but your thermostat is set to a modest temperature, its sensors may have failed.
This is especially likely to happen if you have an older furnace with a mechanical thermostat. These thermostats often contain mercury coil temperature sensors instead of digital sensors. These older sensors can break down after long periods of use, and may not function correctly if the thermostat is not level. However, digital thermostats can also suffer from sensor problems, especially if they have recently suffered water damage.
Faulty Wiring
If the wiring that connects your thermostat to the furnace is damaged or faulty, it can interfere with the signals that pass between the furnace and the thermostat.
In some cases, wiring damage can prevent the thermostat from deactivating the furnace at the right time. This will cause the furnace to run for too long, or simply not deactivate at all. This problem will massively inflate your furnace's gas usage until it is fixed, and will obviously make your home uncomfortably hot.
Wiring damage can also cause your furnace to activate and deactivate too frequently, a problem known as "short cycling." Gas furnaces use the most gas when they are just starting up, so frequent short cycling may lead to significantly higher gas usage and costs.
In rarer cases, wiring faults can also cause your thermostat to randomly change its temperature settings. This problem should be easy to spot if your thermostat has a digital readout screen. If a faulty thermostat frequently changes to a higher temperature setting than desired, your gas bills can quickly spiral out of control.
If your furnace is using more gas than necessary, you should call in a professional heating repair service to inspect your system. If a faulty thermostat is causing the issue, these services can quickly repair or replace the thermostat. They can also check for other problems or installation issues that may be increasing your furnace's fuel consumption.
Contact a local heating repair service to learn more.
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