Current Events > My furnace has been on ALL DAY and house is only 65F!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Today, outside temperatures reached -4F. We lost power overnight, dropping our house temperature to 46F, before gaining our power back this morning. Ever since then, furnace has been on the whole time and house is still only 65F and its struggling to get it to a comfortable 70F.

Is this a furnace undersize issue or is this just a series of unfortunate events (e.g., furnace capacity is designed to sustain heat fine, but cant raise heat under extraordinary circumstances)?

IdiotMachine posted...

Today, outside temperatures reached -4F. We lost power overnight, dropping our house temperature to 46F, before gaining our power back this morning. Ever since then, furnace has been on the whole time and house is still only 65F and its struggling to get it to a comfortable 70F.

Is this a furnace undersize issue or is this just a series of unfortunate events (e.g., furnace capacity is designed to sustain heat fine, but cant raise heat under extraordinary circumstances)?

I mean you could have air leaks

Sounds like some air leaks

Normally not a huge deal but combined with loss of power causing a huge drop in temperature it makes it very difficult to catch up

Maybe try running the oven for a couple hours to get some extra heat in the house, then the furnace will take over and act normal.

Worked in our old apartment when this happened to us

Do you have a heat pump instead of an actual furnace? They don't work as well in extreme cold.

If its like a gas furnace, it should be able to heat your house. Check your furnace filter. If you haven't changed it recently that can make it run inefficiently.

I always set it for 62-65F during winter. 70F is too high for me.

Norman_Smiley posted...

Do you have a heat pump instead of an actual furnace? They don't work as well in extreme cold.

If its like a gas furnace, it should be able to heat your house. Check your furnace filter. If you haven't changed it recently that can make it run inefficiently.

Gas furnace. Furnace filter replaced a couple of weeks ago; I replace these after every 300 hours of use (as tracked via the smart thermostat).

Count_Ravioli posted...

I mean you could have air leaks

Yea, the house has like over 30 windows so leaks are definitely a thing thats unavoidable.

littlebro07 posted...

Sounds like some air leaks

Normally not a huge deal but combined with loss of power causing a huge drop in temperature it makes it very difficult to catch up

Maybe try running the oven for a couple hours to get some extra heat in the house, then the furnace will take over and act normal.

Worked in our old apartment when this happened to us

Never thought about that. Good idea!

There's tape you can buy that covers them up for future references

Man, furnace has been on for 24 hours straight now, and house temp is just 66F. Outside temp is still -1F, with windchills as low as -25F.