There will come a time that a furnace would reset. Given this, every homeowner should know how to deal with this situation and know how to reset the furnace using the reset button. Regardless if it is an oil, gas, or electric furnace, if it has stopped working, it will not restart unless it is reset. There however are different ways of resetting a furnace depending on the type.
But as a general rule, most furnace reset buttons can be found within the blower housing and could either be red or yellow. If you’re still unsure as to why your furnace isn’t turning on, you can also read this article on what to check first if my heater isn’t working.
Resetting Your Furnace
Surprising, furnaces are easy to reset. But while it is easy to reset, there are precautionary measures homeowners should take whenever resetting their furnace. Household heads should keep in mind that furnaces stop working when it encounters a problem. You can also try to relight the furnace if during some situations. Usually, when there is a power supply cut or gas service interruption, when the mechanism overheats, or when oil runs out.
Gas Powered Furnace
- Turn off power from the furnace through the switch-on button. Make sure that the pilot light is OFF.
- Once the pilot lights are off, put the thermostat in the lowermost setting.
- Cut the electric power supply in case the gas furnace operates using an electric ignition. If not, then do not mind this step.
- Turn off the main gas power supply of the furnace, but ensure that the supply line for the pilot gas remains turned on.
- Now use a lighter or match to relight the pilot light. If the pilot compartment of the furnace is sealed, use a piezoelectric spark ignition to relight the furnace.
- Go to the power button and turn it on, including the main gas supply button.
- Press the reset button continuously for 30 seconds.
- Once the furnace restarts, adjust the thermostat setting according to preferred temperature levels.
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Electric Powered Furnace
- Turn off power from the furnace. In case there is no power button on the electric furnace, turn it off from the breaker panel or the circuit breaker.
- Open the furnace’s blower and find the yellow or red reset button.
- Press the reset button until it produces a clicking sound.
- Turn on the power from the furnace once again and see if it starts running again.
- Make sure that the thermostat is in the right setting.
Oil Furnace
Oil furnaces usually need to be restarted when it runs out of oil, or if there is a power supply outage. Homeowners should know the reason why it is turned off so that they can correctly reset it since there are two ways of resetting an oil furnace depending on the root cause.
1. Power Outage
For a power outage, all the homeowner has to do is turn on the power button once again. However, he must double-check if he has observed all the safety precautions first before restarting the furnace.
2. Empty Oil Tank
If the furnace needs a restart due to an empty oil tank, then the homeowner should do the following:
- First refill the oil tank. After filling the tank with oil, he needs to bleed the fuel line so that he could begin the restarting process.
- When bleeding the fuel line, make sure that there is a large container that can hold the fuel while the line is being bled.
- Go to the bleeder valve, open it and get the fuel out into the large container. Make sure that the power is turned on while the fuel line is being bled.
- Turn on the reset button to get the furnace to restart.
- Once the furnace has restarted, close the valve. Get the collected fuel and put it into the empty tank.
While restarting a furnace is fairly easy for any homeowner, other furnace-related maintenance and troubleshooting work should only be left to the professionals. Get in touch with us at Reliable Standard Heating and Air, and we will help you with any of your heating servicing needs. If you live in San Diego County, Escondido, La Jolla, Poway, or neighboring areas, do not hesitate to give us a call or schedule a technician visit using our online scheduling platform.
We provide furnace installation, maintenance, repair, troubleshooting, and upgrades. We will be waiting for your call!