In an electric furnace, air is forced through or around heated elements in order to carry heat outward through the ducts and into the home. Therefore, the heating elements inside of your electric heating furnace can be some of the most vital components of the entire unit. Most electric furnaces will have a series of elements that produce heat.

Occasionally, you will run into issues with one or more of these elements and will need a furnace service repair professional for repairs. How do you know when your furnace's heating elements have problems? Here are a few signs to look out for as a homeowner. 

You smell an odd odor coming from your electric furnace 

Many homeowners will smell an unusual odor when one of their furnace's heating elements is failing. You may refer to the odor released as kind of "fishy" or a bit like sulfur. This telltale odor is usually a result of a failed electrical connection, which can generate an unusual odor with pretty much any type of electrical fixture. If you do notice an odd odor coming through your vents with the heat on, go ahead and shut down the system, use a back-up heating plan, and get in touch with a local heater repair professional for advice. 

Your furnace is suddenly running a lot more than usual with no major weather change

When an electric furnace has multiple elements, the system may not automatically stop producing heat when one element goes bad. However, the outage can mean your furnace will be working harder to produce the same level of heat. For example, if your furnace normally has four heating elements and one element goes out, the remaining elements will not produce the same level of heating power. You may notice that your furnace is running a lot longer than usual and rarely kicking off. 

You don't feel any heat coming through the vents

In a worst-case scenario, if all furnace heating elements fail, you won't have any heat coming through the vents even if the furnace is on. With no elements inside the furnace to generate heat, the air passing through the forced-air system will remain at the same cool temperature as it passes through. Full failure of all heating elements is rare; usually, there will be a larger problem that is preventing the elements from receiving current to heat up. If you run into a problem with no heat from your vents, shut down the system and contact a furnace service for help.

For more information, reach out to a local furnace repair service today.

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