When your furnace won’t start, doing your own furnace repair in Chelan and Wenatchee, Washington, can feel pretty overwhelming.

Fixing your furnace might feel like an intimidating task when your heat won’t power on. But it doesn’t have to be like that.

There are a number of time-saving, inexpensive fixes you can do yourself to skip a furnace repair call.

If your furnace won’t turn on, won’t stay on or won’t ignite, try the troubleshooting list below before contacting an HVAC professional.

If you find you need help from a heating and cooling professional and live in Chelan and Wenatchee, Lakeside Heating & Air can assist you. We can repair most brands of heating systems and also provide emergency furnace repair.

If you’re ready for a new heating system, we also provide furnace installation.

While you’re talking with us, think about a routine furnace maintenance plan that may help you avoid breakdowns in the future. We can tell you how often your furnace should be checked by one of our NATE-certified professionals.

Go through our easy guide below to get started on troubleshooting your furnace. Most of these steps don’t require mechanical know-how.

Furnace Repair Checklist

1. Check the Thermostat

First, make sure your thermostat is telling your furnace to ignite.

Digital Thermostat

Swap out the batteries if the screen is blank. If the digital screen is jumbled, the thermostat may need to be replaced.

Make sure the switch is set to “heat” rather than “off” or “cool.”

Ensure the program is displaying the appropriate day and time and is set to “run.” If you’re having a hard time overriding the program, set the temperature by using the up/down arrows and press the “hold” button. This will cause the furnace to turn on if thermostat programming is causing an issue.

Increase the temperature setting to 5 degrees warmer than the room temperature.

If your furnace hasn’t started within few minutes, make sure it has power by toggling the fan switch from “auto” to “on.” If the fan doesn’t run, your furnace could be without power.

Smart Thermostat

If you have a smart thermostat—like one made by Nest, Ecobee, Lux, Honeywell or Bosch—troubleshooting is very model-specific. Take a look at the manufacturer’s website for help. If you still can’t get your Wi-Fi thermostat to work, call us at 509-284-4265 for heating and cooling service.

2. Examine Breakers and Switches

Next, you will need to check if your breaker and furnace switch are on.

Find your house’s main electrical panel. If you don’t know where it is, look for a gray metal box in your basement, garage or closet.

Make sure your hands and feet are dry before touching the panel or breakers.

Locate the breaker labeled “furnace” or “heat,” and make sure it’s switched “on.” If the breaker has tripped, it will be in the middle or “off” position.

Using one hand, firmly switch the breaker to the “on” position. If the breaker immediately trips and pops back to “off,” don’t try to reset it and get in touch with a professional from Lakeside Heating & Air at 509-284-4265 right away.

It doesn’t matter how old your furnace is or what brand it is, it has at least one standard wall switch located on or close to it.

Make sure the switch is flipped up in the “on” position. If it was turned off, expect your furnace to take up to five minutes to turn on. (If you don’t know where to find your furnace, look in your basement, garage or utility closet. It could also be in a crawl space or attic.)

3. Replace the Air Filter

When it comes to furnace issues, a grungy, clogged air filter is often the top culprit.

If your filter is too dirty:

  • Your furnace won’t keep heating your home, or it could overheat from reduced airflow.
  • Your energy bills could increase because your furnace is turning on too often.
  • Your furnace could stop working sooner than it should because a dirty filter causes it to work overtime.
  • Your furnace can be disconnected from power if an extremely dirty filter causes the breaker to trip.

Depending on what make of furnace you have, your air filter can be found inside the blower compartment of your furnace, an attached filter case or wall-mounted return air grille.

To replace your filter:

  1. Turn off your furnace.
  2. Remove the filter and angle it toward the light. If you can’t see light through it, use a new one.
  3. Put in the new filter with the arrow pointing toward the furnace to avoid damage.

Flat filters should be replaced monthly, while pleated filters should last about three months. You can also buy a washable filter that will last about 10 years. If you have children or pets, you may have to put in a new filter more frequently.

To make the process easier in the future, use a permanent marker on your furnace housing or ductwork to indicate the airflow direction and filter size.

4. Inspect the Condensate Pan

Also known as drain pans, condensate pans capture water your furnace pulls from the air.

If water is seeping out of your furnace or its pan has standing water in it, follow these steps.

  • If your pan has a drain (look for a PVC pipe), check that it isn’t clogged. If it needs to be drained, use a special pan-cleaning tablet you can get at home improvement or hardware stores.
  • If your pan has a pump, inspect the float switch. If the switch is stuck “up” with water in the pan, contact us at 509-284-4265, because you will possibly need a new pump.