When your home’s elderly furnace decides that today, one of the days you need it in a Florida winter, is when it will fail, it’s not a fun time. Depending on the outdoor temperature, your first concern may be staying warm. You can find tips around the internet for temporary ways for your family to keep warm until the heating problem is resolved. Our warm winters usually don’t make this a huge emergency, but you don’t want to feel uncomfortable for long.
What we’re looking at in this post isn’t how to stay warm in the meantime, but what to do about the failed furnace and the future of your home comfort.
Unfortunately, air conditioning troubles are a part of life for many local residents—especially if your air conditioner is older than 10 years. We use our AC systems a lot in Florida, so breakdowns, while an annoyance, do not come as any particular surprise.
In Tampa, we don’t get a lot of use out of our heaters. For most of the year, the “heat” setting on the thermostat remains untouched, and our heating systems get a long rest. So when we do find ourselves in need of heating, it’s a big surprise if the unit won’t seem to kick on.