Any furnace concerns in extreme cold?

[Jerry1]

Like most of the country, we're experiencing very cold and windy conditions. This is causing my furnace to run almost nonstop. Is there anything I should be concerned about with it running so much? Should I turn the temp down and let it "rest" from time to time throughout the day? From what I understand about a furnace about the only moving part is the fan motor and I can't imagine that needs a rest. But, I thought I'd ask in case I'm missing something. FWIW, I'm set at 72. I can certainly tolerate lower, but I'm very adverse to cold and prefer the warmer temp setting.

 

[REWahoo]

Like most of the country, we're experiencing very cold and windy conditions. This is causing my furnace to run almost nonstop. Is there anything I should be concerned about with it running so much?

Paying the bill.

 

[Jerry1]

Paying the bill.

That certainly gets my attention, but it's one of the BTD things in my life since I don't really spend money on other typical splurges like travel.

 

[Car-Guy]

Electric or gas or other? We have an electric central heater and it ran all last night. No issues and never worried about it. (Unless we were to have a power failure, which we didn't). However, oil, natural gas, etc, you need to be sure your heat exchanger is in good shape. If so I think you'd be okay with non stop operation. Of course a bad heat exchanger is bad even for short term use.

 

[Mark1]

I won't worry about it. I have had two instances where my furnace went out and neither were related to a cold stretch. Both cases were related to the computer shutting down the system due to water/slug blockage. One was related to the water condensation drain line leaking slightly and somehow the computer noted it, the other one was related to plugged tubing that measured a dP between two different locations.


P.S. Mine is Natural Gas

 

[pacergal]

We keep our setting at 68, and ours has been running more often also, but not constant.
As much as I like natural light, I have been keeping all draperies closed and our ceiling fans on low to try to keep warmer air around. I also have a small electric heater that has a fake fireplace look that I run occasionally. Not sure it helps, but psychologically it does

 

[COcheesehead]

A HVAC guy told me long ago, a constant temp is better than dropping it and then making your furnace work to get back to room temp. We keep ours at 68 and let the sun shine in all day. It warms the house to about 70.

 

[mountainsoft]

We have a 24K mini split heat pump that has been working fine during our cold temps (down to 13 over night). We also have our electric wall heaters as a back up, but generally only use the one in our bedroom furthest away from the heat pump. It's mostly just supplemental and doesn't run that much. Finally, we have a wood stove as another source of heat, especially if the power should go out. I had the wood stove going all day yesterday, it was 14 outside and 78 inside.

 

[Jerry1]

Electric or gas or other?

My furnace is natural gas.

 

[wmc1000]

-9 here this morning - heat pump with resistance strip backup. was not running continuously with temp set at 74 during the day and 71 at night. We don't like cold

 

[freedomatlast]

My furnace is natural gas.

We'll assume natural gas, forced air. No issues just letting it run. Set it to where you're comfortable and relax.

Heat is one thing I don't skimp on either.

 

[Car-Guy]

My furnace is natural gas.

If the heat exchanger is ok ("should be" if it hasn't been a problem in normal use) you should be good to go.

 

[misanman]

My FIL (now deceased) use to boast that "his furnace only ran once last night". Of course, what really happened is that it ran continuously all night, which I guess qualifies as "running once".

 

[Sunset]

My only concern in a cold snap, is it would be terrible timing for the furnace to stop working.

Ours is natural gas set at 70 during the day, 64 at night.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

My only concern in a cold snap, is it would be terrible timing for the furnace to stop working.

Murphy says this is the time when it will malfunction. Been there, done that.

 

[HF63]

I do lower mine 2-3 degrees from the normal settings.

 

[Walt34]

If anything we turn it up. Well, not really but it's sometimes a temptation. We're also on natural gas forced air heat and no worries.

The worst it ever got was in our old house near D.C. during a cold spell. We saw -5°F which was about unheard of for that location. The furnace would run for an hour, shut off for five minutes, then run for another hour. And yes, I knew if the furnace quit we'd be draining the pipes and making hotel reservations. But that didn't happen.

 

[jollystomper]

We have an electric heat pump, so far so good with the cold and wind. We keep it set at 72, so far only a 1 degree difference between the 1st and 2nd floor. We pay $200 a year for 2 year maintenance check (plus other discounts), for us it is worth it.

The basement is about 69 degrees but if I want it warmer I will just fire up a few more servers .

 

[teetee]

I would turn the dehumidifier on in case there is some condensation that could cause the furnace to rust.

 

[RetMD21]

My only concern in a cold snap, is it would be terrible timing for the furnace to stop working.

Ours is natural gas set at 70 during the day, 64 at night.

You seldom hear of furnace failures during the summer

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

It's 8 below here with wind blowing at a steady 28 mph, gusts to 37 per.

Our HVAC system is a little unusual with a 115K BTU wood pellet boiler feeding a two-zone hydronic system in a century-old, 2300 sq-ft farmhouse (we built an 800 sf frame kitchen-bath-bedroom addition in 1995). The boiler is struggling to keep up, but it's more a matter of air intrusion with this wind than a shortcoming of the heat plant. A friend with another old farmhouse says keeping them warm is like heating a corn crib.

It's all a tradeoff -- I like the character of the building and the privacy that 40 acres provides. Taxes aren't too bad either compared to city valuations. Of course we're pretty much on our own if fire were to break out.

 

[Sunset]

You seldom hear of furnace failures during the summer

It's a plot by the furnace and A/C manufacturers, they divided up the year so they don't step on each other's toes for breakdown repair costs

 

[Sunset]

......
The worst it ever got was in our old house near D.C. during a cold spell. We saw -5°F which was about unheard of for that location. The furnace would run for an hour, shut off for five minutes, then run for another hour. And yes, I knew if the furnace quit we'd be draining the pipes and making hotel reservations. But that didn't happen.

I was in a house in Canada, when the night temp went down to -49 F.
Fun fact: -40C = -40F

That was lower than my car antifreeze, so I plugged the car in all night in the garage, and prayed the engine wouldn't crack. It was fine in the morning

 

[bizlady]

make sure your furnace filters are clean. That is the biggest cause of failure.

 

[mn54]

make sure your furnace filters are clean. That is the biggest cause of failure.

this. plus make sure your flame sensor is clean. any debris or build up on it will cause your furnace not to go on.