The furnace or air conditioner in your home utilizes a long list of components to keep the temperatures comfortable as you like it. One of those components is the blower. Whether you have just a furnace or a furnace and AC combined (HVAC) the system has a blower.
The blower has multiple components of its own. They include a blower motor, blower wheel, bearings, and belts. Any one of these components can malfunction. And if that happens, the blower will not work as efficiently. It might not work at all.
A malfunctioning blower that does continue to work will not work at peak performance. That could impact your daily life in ways that surprise you.
Airflow Is Restricted
The blower’s primary function is to circulate air throughout the system. Air is drawn into the system through cold air returns. It flows through the ductwork, through the HVAC unit itself, and back out through vents located throughout your home.
A malfunctioning blower likely isn’t moving air as efficiently as it should. The result is inconsistent heating and cooling of your home. In the winter, you might notice cold spots. You would notice the opposite in the summer. Because your unit is failing to maintain a consistent temperature, it may run for longer periods of time or kick on more frequently.
Increased Energy Consumption
Your daily life is likely to be impacted by a malfunctioning blower because you are simply more uncomfortable. You don’t feel like you can get warm enough in the winter or stay cool enough in the summer. But that is just the start of it. A malfunctioning blower can make you even more uncomfortable by consuming more energy.
Beehive Plumbing, a Salt Lake City plumbing and HVAC contractor, explains that a blower that is not working properly usually needs to work harder to do what is designed to do. It consumes more energy as a result. Your monthly utility bills go up and you have no explanation as to why.
Something as simple as a dirty air filter can make the blower work less efficiently. The interesting thing is that changing the filter is simple. Anyone can do it in under a minute. But fail to change it on a regular basis and you could be forcing your blower to work much harder than it should.
Straining the System
Because sufficient airflow is necessary to insure a furnace or AC can do its job, a malfunctioning blower becomes a problem over time. Insufficient air circulation puts strain on the entire system. Any number of things could happen as a result:
- The furnace could overheat.
- The heat exchanger could be stressed.
- The coils could freeze in the summer.
All these things, and more, increase the chances of total HVAC failure. And unfortunately, they all shorten the lifespan of a furnace or AC unit. How does this impact your daily life? By forcing you to devote more of your budget to maintaining, repairing, or even replacing your HVAC system.
Blower Issues Are Minor
If there is any good news in all of this it is the fact that blower issues are comparatively minor. They aren’t minor in the sense that you don’t have to worry about them, they are minor in the sense that they can be easily repaired. There really is no reason to put off addressing a malfunctioning blower.
It’s strange to think that such a seemingly simple component can have such a profound impact on your furnace or AC. But it can. So if your blower isn’t working properly, get it taken care of.
