Your home may be colder inside during extreme cold, even if your furnace is working. Your furnace might not be broken. Many KC home systems are not designed to keep up with this extreme cold.
Air conditioning design standards in Kansas City call for furnaces to be big enough to heat a home to a temperature of 70 degrees on a 5-degree day, not more. The overnight low was -6 degrees yesterday, meaning a perfectly designed system would only heat the home to 59 degrees.
Friday’s low is expected to be zero degrees, so your home will be warmer if your system works as designed. Bedrooms a long distance from the furnace or over garages are likely to be cooler than this. On Saturday, temperatures should reach 16 degrees which, though not warm, will make many homes more comfortable than last night.
Your furnace might be on but not hitting your thermostat set point. It is likely not broken, and the situation will improve as the outdoor temperature increases.
Think of your home as a bucket that holds warmth. There is a small hole in this bucket. The furnace is like a faucet filling up the bucket, but on very cold days, the leakage is greater than the heat coming in.
There are things you can do, however, to squeeze every degree of warmth into your home.
Replacing your filter and letting the outdoor temperatures increase a bit may solve your problem. But if the temperature in your home is only in the 40s or low 50s, something else might be going on. Give us a call! We are working hard to help people stay safe and warm.
This extreme cold is hard on your plumbing system. If you have an active leak, shut off your main water valve ASAP to prevent further damage.
When pipes freeze, water can’t flow through them. To know if your pipes are frozen, check to see if water comes out of your faucets. If little or no water comes out, the water has frozen inside the pipe and blocked the water flow.
Next, look for a leak. If there isn’t a leak, the most important thing is to defrost the pipe. A plumber can’t work on the problem until the pipe has thawed. Locate your main water valve so you can shut it off at the first sign of a leak.