Many people here in southern Louisiana rely on a gas furnace for their winter heating. Yet, there are many gas furnace parts that go into making that comfort possible.
In this blog post, we’ll explain the major parts of your furnace, from your heat exchanger to your thermostat.
What gas furnace parts are there?
In order to better understand how gas furnaces work, let’s go over the main components of the heating system.
1. Heat exchanger
The core of your gas furnace is the heat exchanger. As the name itself suggests, the heat exchanger generates heat through an exchange process, adding heat to the air, thereby warming your home.
A heat exchanger consists of a set of coils or tubes that are looped inside the exchanger. A blower motor inside the gas furnace then blows the heated air from the heat exchanger into the ductwork. From there, it’s circulated throughout the house.
As one of the essential gas furnace parts, a cracked heat exchanger is bad news. Not only can it negatively impact your home’s heating, but it can also pose a danger in the form of carbon monoxide release.
2. Gas burner
The gas burner heats up the air in the heat exchanger. When you turn on the gas furnace, a small flame known as the pilot flame burns at a low temperature in the gas burner. The flame heats up the air inside the heat exchanger, which is then distributed inside your home.
3. Gas manifold
Another one of the most important gas furnace parts is the gas manifold, which connects burners with the gas valve. Brass fittings called spuds connect the burners to the manifold. The amount of gas that is transported to the gas burners depends on the size of the hole drilled in the manifold.
Comparatively, this part requires little maintenance and care as compared to other components of the gas furnace. Still, when you schedule a furnace tune-up with us, we’ll take a look to make sure your gas manifold is still operating properly.
Thermostats control the temperature in your home. You can use them to adjust the temperature according to your comfort level. When you turn up the thermostat, the flame of the gas burner gets larger (via the gas burner), increasing the temperature. On the other hand, when you turn down the thermostat, the flame shrinks, lowering the temperature.
You should place the thermostat in the location that will allow the gas furnace to heat the home evenly. The best place to place the thermostat in the middle of the house. Make sure that you place the thermostat away from the windows and walls to prevent uneven heating.
Have Bob’s Heating & AC look at your furnace this fall
There are many gas furnace parts, but each needs to be working together at their best to produce even, effective, and efficient heating for your home. With furnace maintenance from the expert techs at Bob’s, we’ll make sure that each part is checked individually and cooperatively.
Schedule your tune-up today by giving us a call at (985) 855-5775 or by contacting us online.