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View Full Version : My furnace doesn't seem to be blowing very warm air.Changed filter regularly.


yorkiegirl200
Jan 10, 2011, 06:11 AM
I have an electric furnace. 1 year old. I noticed the air is not very warm. It is running my electric bill sky high. I change the filter every 2 months. This morning it is 9 degrees and I am cold. The air seems like it should be warmer. I also have a 1 year old thermostat. I covered my windows with plastic on the inside so it should be warmer. Thank you for any suggestions.

smoothy
Jan 10, 2011, 06:20 AM
What temprature is your residence set for? What is the humidity level? Dry air feels much colder than moist air.

I'll bet its much less than the ideal number of 50% roughly.

yorkiegirl200
Jan 10, 2011, 06:55 AM
I have it set at 71 degrees. I am not sure about humidity. This morning it actually dropped in the house to 62 and the furnace has been running. It has not warmed up. How do I check the humidity? Should I have a humidifier?

smoothy
Jan 10, 2011, 07:06 AM
YOu would need a way to measure humidity. Some electronic thermometers will measure both. They can be bought for les than $30, or you can borrow one off a friend. IF you need a humidifier or not would be determined by the humidity level in your house on average. TOO humid can cause a whole range of other problems. When it gets that cold outside... the air gets very dry inside, and because airs capacity to hold moisture decreases with the temprature... that can result in the indoors air becoming very dry.

yorkiegirl200
Jan 10, 2011, 07:17 AM
Thank you I will see about getting something to measure humidity. That would be cheaper than a furnace man right now.

smoothy
Jan 10, 2011, 07:49 AM
It will also let you know what temprature at the vents you get. If the air is dry enough it may feel cooler than it is. And as a result you find there is nothing wrong.

You may find there is nothing wrong. Like I said humid air feels warmer at a given temprature than dry air. You can Try Home depot, Lowe's or even Radio shack for the Electronic Thermometer with humidity measurement capacity.

Like I said... you don't want to be much higher than 50% with humidity. Or a lot lower or it feels colder than it is. If its very dry a humidifyer can help a lot... and let you keep the thermostat at a lower temprature.

joypulv
Jan 10, 2011, 08:10 AM
How old is your house? How old are the windows? Is the house insulated?
My 43 year old house had half that never got warm air to the vents for the simple reason that none of the ducts were insulated and that part of the house ran off a main duct that ran right along the edge, touching the sill. Naturally the air cooled off within 20' and never even made the turns. I cut out a section of it, duct taped a cover over the much shorter duct, and the house is just as warm as it ever was even minus 5 vents. (A friend is going to put in some radiators for me, running Pex through the ducts, because I don't like air heat anyway.)

yorkiegirl200
Jan 10, 2011, 01:51 PM
It was built in the 40's. It is made of concrete blocks. I had natural gas until last year. I had an electric one put in late last winter. It just does not seem to warm up in here. It is a small house and when I touch the registers the air feels cool. My nehew put it in and I think I will have to have the furnace guy he bought it from see if he did something wrong. My electric bills are running about $400. Thank you for your thoughts.

smoothy
Jan 11, 2011, 05:31 AM
Something else I forgot to mention yesterday. Make sure your filters are clean.