Over the past few days I have noticed that my oil furnace doesn't seem
to be coming on when we tell it to via the thermostat sometimes (but
not every time). Here's what the chain seems to be:

1.) On the newer digital thermostat (which we have since reset, just in
case), we tell the furnace to come on by raising the temperature (it
seems problematic at night for some reason). Normally you hear an
instant 'click' and the system is heard spinning up in the basement.
Heat then comes on a few minutes later.

2.) What has been happening is no 'click,' no matter how high you tell
the thermostat to go.

3.) Troubleshooting has been as follows: 1.) Pushing the reset switch
on the furnace, which makes no audible sounds or anything--is it
supposed to? 2.) Resetting the breaker (though all the while, power
never seems to be interrupted at all at the furnace) 3.) Having to wait
about 15-20 minutes and then the system seems to come back on most of
the time.

4.) The oil tank indicator says the tank is 3/4 full (Do those
indicators on top of the tank die or malfunction? Do I have a
soon-to-be-empty tank?)

5.) The furnace was serviced and cleaned about 1 month ago.

Before I call the furnace people, I thought I would take a stab here.

Thanks!

first, get of the service call list, it's cold outside! then look up
the manufacturer and model for the furnace and each of its controls
after you browse thru
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermostat
this search looks interesting at:
http://www.answers.com/oil%20furnace%20repair

mdelfs wrote:
Over the past few days I have noticed that my oil furnace doesn't seem
to be coming on when we tell it to via the thermostat sometimes (but
not every time). Here's what the chain seems to be:

1.) On the newer digital thermostat (which we have since reset, just in
case), we tell the furnace to come on by raising the temperature (it
seems problematic at night for some reason). Normally you hear an
instant 'click' and the system is heard spinning up in the basement.
Heat then comes on a few minutes later.

2.) What has been happening is no 'click,' no matter how high you tell
the thermostat to go.

3.) Troubleshooting has been as follows: 1.) Pushing the reset switch
on the furnace, which makes no audible sounds or anything--is it
supposed to? 2.) Resetting the breaker (though all the while, power
never seems to be interrupted at all at the furnace) 3.) Having to wait
about 15-20 minutes and then the system seems to come back on most of
the time.

4.) The oil tank indicator says the tank is 3/4 full (Do those
indicators on top of the tank die or malfunction? Do I have a
soon-to-be-empty tank?)

5.) The furnace was serviced and cleaned about 1 month ago.

Before I call the furnace people, I thought I would take a stab here.

Thanks!

please see:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/1...roubleshooting

mdelfs wrote:
Over the past few days I have noticed that my oil furnace doesn't seem
to be coming on when we tell it to via the thermostat sometimes (but
not every time). Here's what the chain seems to be:

1.) On the newer digital thermostat (which we have since reset, just in
case), we tell the furnace to come on by raising the temperature (it
seems problematic at night for some reason). Normally you hear an
instant 'click' and the system is heard spinning up in the basement.
Heat then comes on a few minutes later.

2.) What has been happening is no 'click,' no matter how high you tell
the thermostat to go.

3.) Troubleshooting has been as follows: 1.) Pushing the reset switch
on the furnace, which makes no audible sounds or anything--is it
supposed to? 2.) Resetting the breaker (though all the while, power
never seems to be interrupted at all at the furnace) 3.) Having to wait
about 15-20 minutes and then the system seems to come back on most of
the time.

4.) The oil tank indicator says the tank is 3/4 full (Do those
indicators on top of the tank die or malfunction? Do I have a
soon-to-be-empty tank?)

5.) The furnace was serviced and cleaned about 1 month ago.

Before I call the furnace people, I thought I would take a stab here.

Thanks!

I have a digital thermostat, which cannot close it's relay when the
batteries get low. The rest of the thermostat appears to function.

Al


"mdelfs" wrote in message
ups.com...
Over the past few days I have noticed that my oil furnace doesn't seem
to be coming on when we tell it to via the thermostat sometimes (but
not every time). Here's what the chain seems to be:

1.) On the newer digital thermostat (which we have since reset, just in
case), we tell the furnace to come on by raising the temperature (it
seems problematic at night for some reason). Normally you hear an
instant 'click' and the system is heard spinning up in the basement.
Heat then comes on a few minutes later.

2.) What has been happening is no 'click,' no matter how high you tell
the thermostat to go.

3.) Troubleshooting has been as follows: 1.) Pushing the reset switch
on the furnace, which makes no audible sounds or anything--is it
supposed to? 2.) Resetting the breaker (though all the while, power
never seems to be interrupted at all at the furnace) 3.) Having to wait
about 15-20 minutes and then the system seems to come back on most of
the time.

4.) The oil tank indicator says the tank is 3/4 full (Do those
indicators on top of the tank die or malfunction? Do I have a
soon-to-be-empty tank?)

5.) The furnace was serviced and cleaned about 1 month ago.

Before I call the furnace people, I thought I would take a stab here.

Thanks!

That was it! I had no idea that thing even had batteries! I changed
them and the display is now brighter and it fires each and every time I
tell it to! Thanks, Al!



On Dec 8, 8:06 am, "Al Schmidt" wrote:
I have a digital thermostat, which cannot close it's relay when the
batteries get low. The rest of the thermostat appears to function.

Al

"mdelfs" wrote in oglegroups.com...

Over the past few days I have noticed that my oil furnace doesn't seem
to be coming on when we tell it to via the thermostat sometimes (but
not every time). Here's what the chain seems to be:

1.) On the newer digital thermostat (which we have since reset, just in
case), we tell the furnace to come on by raising the temperature (it
seems problematic at night for some reason). Normally you hear an
instant 'click' and the system is heard spinning up in the basement.
Heat then comes on a few minutes later.

2.) What has been happening is no 'click,' no matter how high you tell
the thermostat to go.

3.) Troubleshooting has been as follows: 1.) Pushing the reset switch
on the furnace, which makes no audible sounds or anything--is it
supposed to? 2.) Resetting the breaker (though all the while, power
never seems to be interrupted at all at the furnace) 3.) Having to wait
about 15-20 minutes and then the system seems to come back on most of
the time.

4.) The oil tank indicator says the tank is 3/4 full (Do those
indicators on top of the tank die or malfunction? Do I have a
soon-to-be-empty tank?)

5.) The furnace was serviced and cleaned about 1 month ago.

Before I call the furnace people, I thought I would take a stab here.

Thanks!

Check the batteries in the thermostat, I should check mine.

Al Moran wrote in message
...
On 7 Dec 2006 22:17:15 -0800, "mdelfs" wrote:

A malfunctioning oil furnace is the worst kind for a do it yourselfer
to mess around with. Call a licensed hvac tech to look at it before
you kill yourself or your family.


Yep. He could have killed himself replacing those AA batteries.

While your advice in generally correct, this time is sure paid off to post a
simple request and solve the problem for $1 instead of a $100 service call.