Whether you have a gas furnace, electric furnace, or oil furnace, every furnace owner needs to know how to reset when needed. The reset button pops out whenever any trouble occurs, like interrupted gas supply, empty oil tank, or overheated furnace. This reset button needs to be pushed in to restart the furnace. The reset button is usually situated inside the blower housing, next to the blower motor.
The button may be in red or yellow and easily visible.
Resetting a Furnace
Every furnace (electric, gas, and oil) has a separate procedure that needs to be followed to reset the furnace. There are various precautions that you need to keep in mind when resetting a furnace. Follow the below steps to safely reset a furnace using a reset button:
Electric Furnace
- Switch off the power button. If your furnace does not have a power switch, then directly turn off the circuit breaker connected to the furnace.
- Open the blower housing and find the reset button.
- Press the reset button and hold it until it clicks.
- Turn the breaker on to get the furnace running.
- The furnace will start as soon as it receives signals from the thermostat.
Gas Furnace
- Turn the setting of the gas control to “off” to switch off the pilot light.
- After the pilot light is out, set the thermostat to the lowest setting.
- If your gas furnace has an electric ignition, switch off the circuit breaker connected to the furnace to cut off the power supply. Else, skip this step.
- Close the furnace’s main gas supply line but leave the supply line of pilot gas open.
- Now, relight the pilot light through matchstick, lighter, or piezoelectric spark ignition (if the furnace’s pilot compartment is sealed).
- Turn the power and main gas supply on the back again.
- After doing all this, press the reset button, hold for 30 seconds and release it.
- The furnace will restart, and then you can adjust the thermostat’s setting.
Oil Furnace
There are two possible causes of resetting an oil furnace- power outage and empty oil tank.
1. Power Outage
If there was a power outage, all you need to do to restart your furnace is press the reset button. You do not need to do any other preparation or observe other safety precautions for this situation.
2. Empty Oil Tank
In the case of an empty oil tank, you first need to fill the tank with oil and then bleed the fuel line.
- To bleed the fuel line, you need to find the bleeder valve located on the fuel pump.
- Keep a large enough container to hold the fuel.
- Open the bleeder valve and let the fuel out into the container. Keep the power on when bleeding the fuel.
- Press the reset button, and the furnace will start.
- After restarting, close the bleeder valve and pour the collected fuel into the empty oil tank.
Working on a furnace with no experience is dangerous. Do not attempt to do the furnace replacement yourself. Call an expert and licensed HVAC professional to do the task. If you live in Battle Ground, WA, or Vancouver, WA, you can contact the Home Energy Group.
We provide services like furnace repair in Battle Ground, WA, at residential areas, light commercial buildings, and new construction sites. We also provide you with furnace replacement in Vancouver, WA, with top-quality products and services. Reach us through a call on (360)944-8616.