What does that mean?
Regardless of what it means, it is well known that people are happier when they are colder than when they are hotter. Thus I heat them up and then cool them down, regardless of what the temperature is outside. I don’t want to leave everyone all hot and angry…
Yep. I have no idea what Charley’s problem is.
He’s not good at ‘splainin’ things. 
Lots of back and forth…
I always check the heat, it is the AC that is the issue when it is too cold. Switching from AC to heat with a heat pump just means a short delay for things to equalize and then check the toaster. If is is a furnace i just turn it on and observe it go thru the cycles and check the delta across the system.
Agree 100%.
Checking heat is last thing I do as a sign of respect towards others and always explain it that way so they know I am caring.
No point in making them suffer.
Haha
What it means is that I’m likely to arrive to a home that 80+ degrees in the summer… I’ll operate the AC for a bit before I operate the Gas Fired Furnace. Whether I’m conscious could be from heat stroke or a whack over the head for having run the furnace when the house is already near the upper limits of the thermostat.
Tim I have changed a boat load of limits switches on furnaces . Any safety switch that fails open will not allow the burner to fire most common being the combustion fan hose they break become loose or get cracks in the rubber. The high limit switch is a different story its a normally closed switch that of course opens on excessive temps. What happens more often than not the bimetal in the switch gets weak over time and opens premature which shuts the burner down but the fan is still operating thus the owner or the home inspector thinks the furnace is still operating. In the mean time the high limit switch cools down and resets automatically thus the burner re- fires because the thermostat did not satisfied. Its called short cycling and unless you are close to the furnace you will never notice this malfunction
Thanks Charley, again, for the clarification and more detail.
We’re all here to learn… more than just home in specting.
Mike Larson post:
Quote:
Originally Posted by sthomson View Post
He is saying to leave it on long enough to reach the thermostat temp that you set because sometimes the flame will turn on and on before it reaches the temp
Then why didn’t he say so?
** If that is what he meant, he is wrong. **
Once the blower kicks on and the flame is still going, the next significant event is satisfying the thermostat however long that might take.
** Going to the thermostat and returning it to ambient or less is just as effective. **
From Inspecting Furnace in Summer Months - InterNACHI Inspection Forum http://www.nachi.org/forum/f20/inspecting-furnace-summer-months-92322/#ixzz366cYGbrx
I assure you John my issue with Mr bottcher is that he often speaks in riddle and pretends to help people.
Eventually when prodded he will explain himself.
Charley chose to be an *** instead of explain. It is how he operates.
FWIT I run the furnace for far more than enough time to pick up the limit malfunction charley is talking about. typically 20 - 30 minutes even in the Summer.
Unprofessional behavior. Do some of you “puff up” when a Client calls you out on something that you did incorrectly?
Believe me, everyone has screwed up and not many in this day will admit to it. “I’ve been doing this for _______,” the typical response I always hear. it still doesn’t negate the fact your inferior complex has made you look like even more of a fool.
Learn some people skills.
I agree, Charley should do that.
Do you often step in where you have no idea what’s going on?
I normally do not “step in” when I don’t know what is going on.
But you did this time.
And, so?
Are you the really important guy around here, on the internet? I don’t know you, you don’t know me. My comment wasn’t directed at you. Did you get butt hurt? It happens a lot on the internet, hence, my original reply to this thread proves that.
Hey man, you are superior to me with your uber home inspector skills. You know so much more than me.
Sure, I might have taken you wrong. It happens.
Did you want to apologize? Grow up.
And just why are you here?
Are you a future home inspector or just trying to agitate?
Like Charlie said … Short-Cycling.
#1 - Although I have clients and Realtors offer to turn the furnace on for me all the time when I’m in the basement I don’t do that. Why … Almost invariably a Realtor, seller or buyer will set the T-stat up 2-3 degrees over where its at. Then in a very short time it can cycle off. I want the puppy to run 8-10-15 minutes to see if a safety control is gonna kick out OR if she short-cycles. I do the same in A/C mode on cooler days.
#2 - I always turn T-stat on myself. I set it 10 degrees OVER or UNDER where its currently set at. That way its EASY to put it back where they had it AND it lets it run long enough that if it goes off, its NOT because its satisfied.
#3 - In heat mode when I turn T-stat on myself, I’ve already killed On/Off switch at unit OR if none present pulled a wire OR turned gas valve to pilot, etc. Why … Because when I get back to the unit and let the gas go to burners and they fire, I can see any flame roll-out, distortion, etc AND I wanta watch my flames in the passive mode before fan comes on AND take my carbon monoxide reading then AND again after fan comes on. Obviously this is not on an electric furnace, 90% furnace or many 80% furnaces BUT in my area I still get a butt-load of 60% units.
Wanta jump in Charlie and expand on this?
OR even discuss a sticking fan/limit switch OR Lennox “Whisper Quiet” roll up switch for flame guard. Some of the kids like to learn … Some don’t.
Dan, have you run into the thermostats that are powered fully by the furnace? Turn off the power to the furnace and the thermostat goes completely dead. It always seems to happen to me when the furnace is in the 2nd floor attic and not the garage.
Most newer stats have two power sources so I don’t understand your question Steve. The step down transformer is located in the furnace which supplies the 24 volts for all the controls heat and cool but there is also AAA or AA battery’s within the stat proper that just displays the screen and back light if present on the stat so you are describing you turn off the 120 volts to the furnace and the Stat dies are you saying the digital read out is not visible on the stat if the 120 volts to the furnace is killed
That’s exactly it Charley. Turn the furnace power switch off in the attic, go back downstairs, and the thermostat is completely dead. No screen, nothing visible. Not all but a fair number. I would bet they never put the batteries in but never took the time to take the thermostat off the wall to look. Soon as I saw a blank screen, I would head back to the attic. Will check the next time.
Just dependent on the MFG all Stats do not have batteries and the ones that do generally just have a little door to the battery compartment you should not have to remove the stat from the wall to view the battery’s. There are stats that actually operate with 24 volts and or 120 volts . Thermostats are just a switch nothing more its just like a traffic cop directing voltage to different control devices. There is normally just one leg of the 24 volt circuit in a common stat and its the hot side, the neutral side of the transformer is brought to the stat if there is a load to be energized such as the display panel or the back drop light. Thus if you unplug the power at the furnace you would also be killing the power to the stat via the transformer in the furnace control panel. 
My 3rd inspect today had a 2011 gas furnace in the attic that was short cycling not to uncommon with the cheap junk they sell now days:(