New Gas Ducane Furnace Kicking on every two Minutes

Well, I just had a new ducane furnace put in my home just a week ago. Since it was installed the thing hasnt been working right! At first it would kick on for 5 minutes then kick off then 5 minutes later it kicks back on. Now it is doing this every two minute and most of the time it isnt even blowing warm air. It feels like a window is cracked and cold air coming in from outside. I have had the Hvac guy that installed down 3 times and he keeps doing this and that to it but it seems to just keep getting worse. Someone said that the new furnaces dont blow hot air that it is warm. This though is cold and not keeping my house warm at all. I have had to use two space heaters just to take the chill off. Any suggestions as to why it is doing this? I am afraid to see my gas and electric bill with it kicking on and off all the time.

 

First of all, the air temperature out of your furnace (assuming it isn't a heat pump) should be just about as hot as your previous furnace.

You need to call the owner or manager of the HVAC company who put in your new furnace and demand he send out some techs who can fix your problem, as its apparent the tech who's been working on your furnace doesn't have the skills necessary to troubleshoot your problem.

 

Yes somone else is coming out today to install some part. I cant remember what he said it was. Something to do with duct work. Someone told me though when i asked about the problem that the new furnace would do that. Not run as long as the old one. That would be fine if it wasnt doing this every two minutes and actually keeping my house warm. They said since my house had not been weatherized that the draft was making it do this. The thing is my house was weatherized this week also (insulated the attic and caulked all drafts and cracks, replace all exterior doors ETC.) The furnace got worse and started the every two minute thing. I read in another forum that some one had this problem on another Ducane furnace and it was a defective high limit switch. But they say that is not it. So I am clueless.

 

I agree with mstuart.


Have you paid off the contractor in full? If not, you can warn them that if they don't fix the problem promptly you will hire someone who can and deduct their fee from what is owed.

 

What do you have for t-stat?

sometime installer don't set them up right.

Otherwise, is teh t-stat calling for heat the whole time that the furnace stops and goes?

New furnace should run about the same or longer as the old furnace. Mine runs for about 20 min.

 

No i didnt have to pay because it was installed as part of the Weatherization program we have in out state. As for the
t-stat. They never put a new one in. I asked and he said that they would put one in if that was it. Another guy was telling him a few things that might be wrong with it. Like too big of a furnace for the house and fan speed (ithink). So, I will see when I get home if it works or not.

 

Tell us about your home. how many sq ft is it, and how many BTU is the furnace?

 

If some other outfit was paying, no doubt they have installation standards contractors must meet. Call them and get them after the contractor.

 

From my experiences in different properties, I can actually agree with this. They try to size the furnace as small as possible so it has to run longer between cycles.

So what is your thermostat set at, and what is the actual temperature? Is it not able to maintain the desired set temperature? Or rather do you simply feel drafty from the perceived cooler air coming out of the registers?

 

I will have to get the square footage but the furnace is either a 90,000 or 95,000 BTU. But response to ecman52. I have the t-stat set to 70 and that is how warm it says it is in the home. They took the drop off and are going to replace it to try and fix the problem. They left it off last night and said it was working. The thing that bothers me is the air coming out is not as hot as the old furnace and it still keeps kicking on and off every 5 minutes. My old furnace only kicked on every 15 0r 20 minutes and it actually kept the house warm. I mean i could sit on my couch and not have to cover up with a blanket. Now I have to have a blanket to take the chill off. I am afraid that this is going to cause my electric and gas bills to be through the roof. Also, i would think it would be hard on the motor on the furnace constantly doing this.

 

I have done that because i actually work for the place that had the furnace installed. (Not the HVAC Company). I think the HVAC guy thinks i am doing this because i work there but that is not it. I hate to see what he is going to say today when i tell him it still isnt working right. I mean the air that comes out of my car heater is 10 times warmer than whats coming out of my house vents. I am completely puzzled and not sure if I am wrong about how this furnace should run and how warm the air should actually be.

 

I have to get to work......to work on a heat issue, but just stopped by for now to let you know that my 80,000 btu 80% furnace lists a 70-130 temp rise!, 200F limit. I have had temps of 180 degrees at the register. Ahhhhhh. I have had people conme inside, chilled to the bone, and sit on the register to get nice and toasty. Ahhhhh. Dries out wet clothes and shoes sitting above fast, also. Furnace runs much shorter if house temp set back to 52 degrees while gone all day, and warms it up quickly without having to put up with obnoxious air currents for 2 hours waiting for it to do so. The pros ballyhoo the efficiency of properly sized furnaces. But one draw back I see is when the furnace has to run and run, after it has been set back a lot - with basically warm drafty air(remember say 100-120 outlet air is mixing with the 52 degree air when set back!, which naturally feels cool and drafty), for a real long time. And besides the longer drafty spell from it doing so, it also consumes more blower electric, which may be significant.

Did I tell you I ran a volt and amp test on about a 1/4 HP blower recently, and found out it was drawing about 800 watts?, even though straight conversion of 1 horsepower is about 750 watts(that is what a low setting on a space heater uses or about 12-13 60 watt bulbs left on all at once!)? Meaning the one I tested was actually consuming over 4 times that! Unless of course some of the newer blower motors are more efficient. (I'll have to check some others when I get the chance)

 

If you have an thermostat with a heat anticipator it may need to be adjusted. If you have an electronic thermostat you may need to install a bleed down resistor between the W and C terminals on the board.

 

My experience is that it's a mistake for DIYers to get between thye furnace and those who have a responsibility to make it work properly.

That includes tenants, and it includes people who have had new equipment installed by a contractor.

Trying to doctor things up clouds that responsibility and can allow the person who should be dealing with the problem to slide off the hook.

Rather than trying to doctor things up, the best thing to do is to keep the person responsible unambiguously on the hook.


So frankly, I wouldn't do anything except complain, loudly, to the contractor and whatever agency signed the contract to have the new equipment installed.

 

I have installed many ducane furnaces in 10 years.I have never had 1 call-back on these.the furnace was not set-up,or installed properly.did they check the temperature rise? did they set the blower speed to match temp rise? t-stat might need anticipator set.i go to several hvac forums,and you very rarely see aproblem iwht a ducane.i feel they are very reliable and a good furnce for the money compared to many brands.if it is coming on every 2 minutes,and if they checked the temp rise,and set blower speed,then it is possible that the wrong size furnace was installed.need more info,model number,size of main duct off of furnace,size of return.also roughly,the square footage of each room that is heated...

 

Easy voltmeter test to determine is thermostat keeps kicking on and off - or not.

 

Finally the other furnace guy (not the one who installed the furnace) got the problem fixed. All this headache and it was a simple wiring problem at the furnace. The guy had the wires that run to the t-stat hooked up wrong. Pretty bad though when he is a professional.

 

Thanks for letting us know. Glad all is well now.