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snowaggie

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Trying to avoid a pointless $150 service call by summoning the wrong professional. 45 year old house with a 15 year old furnace. Furnace will come on and heat the house to the asked-for temperature, cycle off as usual, but when the thermostat asks for it to kick back on the fuse trips at the box. You can the recycle breaker and it will fire back up, rinse and repeat. HVAC or electrician?

Snow Monkey Ambassador

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7:58a, 1/21/25

AG

Electrician. Either the breaker needs to be replaced (most likely), or you're over amperage on the startup. If it's the former, easy fix. If it's the latter, the electrician may be able to fix it or you may need a new system (at which point HVAC will obviously be necessary). Go the cheaper route first and cross all your fingers.

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GSS

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In reply to Snow Monkey Ambassador • 8:43a, 1/21/25

Depends on the skill set of an A/C guy. Mine is savvy enough on the electrical side of trouble-shooting, to likely pinpoint if it's the A/C unit, or a breaker/supply side problem.

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giddings_ag_06

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8:48a, 1/21/25

AG

Do you have a kid you can put next to the breaker panel to flip breakers when needed? Much cheaper temporarily. Probably need AC in a few days anyways.

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GSS

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In reply to snowaggie • 8:58a, 1/21/25

snowaggie said:
Trying to avoid a pointless $150 service call by summoning the wrong professional. 45 year old house with a 15 year old furnace. Furnace will come on and heat the house to the asked-for temperature, cycle off as usual, but when the thermostat asks for it to kick back on the fuse trips at the box. You can the recycle breaker and it will fire back up, rinse and repeat. HVAC or electrician?

Forgot to ask...gas furnace, or a heat pump? Major difference in possible trouble-shooting.

LRHF

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11:32a, 1/21/25

AG

Ghost Busters

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snowaggie

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In reply to GSS • 12:43p, 1/21/25

GSS said:
snowaggie said:
Trying to avoid a pointless $150 service call by summoning the wrong professional. 45 year old house with a 15 year old furnace. Furnace will come on and heat the house to the asked-for temperature, cycle off as usual, but when the thermostat asks for it to kick back on the fuse trips at the box. You can the recycle breaker and it will fire back up, rinse and repeat. HVAC or electrician?
Forgot to ask...gas furnace, or a heat pump? Major difference in possible trouble-shooting.

Gas. Just changed the filter out for a new one. Looked moderately dirty/compromised. Will monitor and report back.