The door switch in your gas furnace is a small and inexpensive part, but it's an essential safety device. If it breaks, your furnace won't start. It's possible to bypass a bad switch so the furnace will start, but it's dangerous to do so. Here's a look at how a furnace door switch works, why it's not safe to bypass it, and how a furnace repair technician can replace a bad switch.
How A Door Switch In A Gas Furnace Works
A door switch is mounted on the inside of the furnace on the metal cage so the switch is automatically depressed when the furnace door is on. When the door or panel is removed, the switch pops out and your furnace will no longer operate.
This is an important safety feature because it ensures your furnace won't start running when the door is off and you least expect it. This is especially important if your filter is inside the furnace. You wouldn't want the furnace to start as you were changing the filter.
Why You Shouldn't Bypass The Furnace Switch
If the door of the furnace is off and the furnace starts up, someone could get a bad shock if they happen to touch the wrong thing inside the furnace. Also, with the door off, airflow through the furnace changes. The furnace sucks air in through the door, and that could pull musty air from your attic or fumes from your garage through the ducts to be circulated through your home.
In addition, running the furnace with the door off could create a carbon monoxide problem. Bypassing the switch might be easy, but it makes your furnace think the door panel is on even if the panel accidentally falls off. Your furnace could become a safety hazard without you knowing it. That's why it's important to have the switch replaced and not bypass it.
How A Door Switch Is Replaced
Each brand of furnace has its own style of switch and location for the switch. The furnace repair technician has to find the right part for a replacement. Furnace door switches are usually quite affordable, and replacing one is easy. The technician has to remove the door panel after shutting off the power. Then they pop out the old switch and take off the wires.
Putting in a new switch is a matter of connecting the wires and then pushing the switch back into its holder. When that's done, the technician can replace the furnace door panel to make sure the switch operates as it should.
For more info about furnace repair, contact a local contractor.
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