Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning Blog

How Faulty Burners Cost You Money

One of the essential parts of a gas-powered furnace or boiler is the burner, where an ignition system burns the natural gas from the jets to create high temperature combustion gas. This gas either heats up the water in a boiler or the air in a furnace and provides the heat necessary to keep warm through a Colorado winter and any of its other cold days.

When a burner malfunctions, it will threaten your supply of heat and lower the performance of your boiler or furnace. But a faulty burner will also cost you money, as we’ll explain. To fix a burner problem, you need to call on professional heating repair in Bellvue, CO. Look to the company with a long track record, Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning: we’ve served Northern Colorado since 1934.

A Faulty Burner and Heater Efficiency

The principle way you can waste money with a heating system in your home is for it to run inefficiently: it must draw increasing amounts of energy in order to perform at the same level. For example, a furnace with a 85% AFUE rating will turn 85% of the natural gas supplied into heat. However, if the furnace develops problems, it can drop to the point that it only turns 60% of its fuel into heating power. To reach the same level of heating, it must work more and waste more.

How does the burner affect efficiency? The burner is the place where a furnace or a boiler burns natural gas. Although many other components in these systems can affect efficiency—such as heat exchangers, pumps, and air handlers—it all begins with burner. If the burner becomes dirty, making it difficult for it draw oxygen to ignite, a larger amount of gas will go to waste, and the burner will remain on longer to reach its regular heat levels.

Another possibility for waste is a burner with rust flakes in it. Corrosion of any kind will damage a furnace or boiler and needs to be avoided at all costs. Rust flakes in a burner will restrict oxygen flow, the same as with dirt and grime.

A burners connection to the gas line can become clogged, restricting gas flow. The burner will struggle to maintain enough heat to reach the temperature indicated on the thermostat, and continue to waste gas to reach it.

All of this wasted natural gas means elevated energy bills. If you notice a spike in your costs for gas on your monthly bill, you have may have a repair need in your heater… and the burner is a likely candidate.

But Don’t Try to Fix the Burner Yourself!

Repairs to gas heaters must remain in the hands of trained professionals; it’s extremely unsafe to do this work on your own. Call up the technicians at Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning (we’re available 24 hours a day) and schedule heating repair in Bellvue, CO if you suspect you have a malfunctioning heater.

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