What You Need To Know About The Parts and Functions Of A Furnace

Most homeowners don’t give their furnace much thought until it breaks. We understand that despite being tucked away in the attic or garage, it performs a crucial function. Let’s talk about the significance of regular furnace maintenance, but what if you want to know more about the furnace itself? What the components do and how it functions. We created this helpful guide to break down the components of a furnace because of this.

What Makes a Home Furnace?

Return Registering
A return register resembles a regular air vent. They typically reside in places where chilly air may live, such as a corridor or a ceiling. The chilly air within your home will be drawn out by a return register and sent to your heating and cooling system to be warmed. This is the first stage of the heating process, and it is also how the air in your house is recycled.

Return Duct
Your heating and cooling system’s return ducts play a crucial role. The return duct’s function is to direct the air that is drawn in by the return register in a specific direction. The air from the register is sent straight to your furnace through this conduit.

Air Filter
We discuss HVAC air filters a lot. They are a minor component of your HVAC system, yet they have a big impact on everyone’s health and safety in your home. The return register and duct are used to bring in ambient air, which then goes through the air filter. Pollutants or contaminants in indoor air will be captured by the air filter, preventing them from spreading throughout your house.

Blower
The role of the blower is rather obvious. It is a sizable component that propels air into the supply ductwork of your HVAC system. Without a blower, air can be pulled into the system, but it has nowhere to go.

Pump Motor
A blower motor powers the actual blower. The blower motor rotates the fan that is included into the blower itself. The cleansed air wouldn’t leave the system very far without the blower motor. Every fan requires some electricity.

Wind Chamber
The box that contains the blower and blower motor is known as the blower chamber. The box provides correct operation by stabilizing the blower and all additional parts.

Burners
The real magic takes place here. The fire originates in the burners. Natural gas is the primary fuel for most furnaces. The burners draw natural gas from a gas line, where it ignites when it comes into contact with oxygen. Of course, a pilot light or electrical ignition is used to start the fire, and there is a flame sensor to make sure everything is operating as it should.

Flame Detector
A small rod called a flame sensor has a significant impact on the safety of your home and HVAC system. When a fire is actually ignited in the burner chamber, the flame sensor notices it. When everything is functioning properly, the flame sensor will effectively do nothing. The flame sensor, however, will shut the system down when there is no heat, so it will “keep calm and carry on.” This is done to prevent any possible gas leaks. When the heater is producing gas without a flame, your household may have carbon monoxide problems.

The Electronic Ignition Or The Pilot Light
Although they have varying degrees of safety, pilot lights and electronic ignitions are fundamentally the same thing. There will still be a pilot light on older furnaces. Electronic ignitions are found in newer furnaces, which are those that are 10 years old and older. Pilot lights are designed to run continuously, even when the furnace is off. According to the hypothesis, the furnace will always be prepared when a heating cycle is activated. There are a few problems with the pilot light. First of all, it constantly consumes gas, which over time can pile up. Second, a draft can quickly extinguish the pilot light. You are compelled to restart the pilot light, which is unpleasant and possibly hazardous. Modern furnaces have an electrical ignition because of this.

Fire Pit Cover
The burners, flame sensor, blower chamber, and electronic ignition or pilot light are all covered by a burner cover. The flames are kept inside the furnace as a safety precaution. It often sits above the burners and is a small, rectangular piece of metal.

Burning Chamber
The entire fire system is secured by the combustion chamber. The burners, flame sensor, flames, and pilot light or electric ignition are all contained in this chamber. For safety reasons, the blower chamber and combustion chamber are separate.

Exchange Of Heat
The heat exchanger is what provides your home with warm, wholesome air. To generate heat, fire and natural gases are burned together. This mixture produces a quantity of “combustion gasses” that may be dangerous to one’s health. The heat exchanger receives the hot combustion gasses. The heat from this combustion gas heats the heat exchanger’s walls to such an extent that heat is transmitted to filtered air flowing outside the exchanger’s walls. The residual combustion gasses inside the exchanger are then discharged into the flu pipe. Any hazardous gases are prevented from entering your airstream during this process.

Provider Plenum
Recall the return duct from the introduction to this article? Air is given to the home after being returned to the HVAC system. The supply plenum prepares to return all of the heated air from the heat exchanger to your house.

Damper
The amount of air that is let into your home is controlled by the damper. The damper receives all of the cleaned air. The damper then controls where and how much air flows. By adjusting the thermostat’s settings, you can regulate how much air exits the damper.