Furnace Health Check: Recognizing What the Color of the Flames Mean

Natural gas or warm air oil furnace is an important investment in any home and keeping track of its efficiency and effectiveness on how it is running pays. It is necessary to know when it is time to replace before it costs you more than it should in repairs. Every home environment in Edmonton requires a furnace health check that is safe and energy efficient.

Is the Furnace Burner Flame Yellow and not Blue?

Natural gas is clean, safe, and reliable. When your furnace is operating efficiently, natural gas burns with little residue release. However, if the appliance emits a flickering or a yellow flame instead of the normal blue, that is a sign that poisonous carbon monoxide is being created. Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, highly toxic, and fatal.

Natural gas has methane, a component responsible for the blue color. Your furnace should produce a sharply defined blue flame with just a small spotting of yellow at the tip of the glow. When the pilot light gives a yellow color, that indicates inefficient combustions, a sign that other condensates along with methane are burning together.

The condensates could include rust, tar, and other hazardous chemicals. In fact, a key warning sign that you need an urgent Edmonton furnace replacement is a yellow, orange, red, green, or purple flame.

What a Blue Flame Connotes

A blue flame signifies complete combustion. When your furnace has complete combustion, maximum heat output is produced, and less energy is used to generate the right amount of heat. Signs of incomplete combustion are easily visible and once noticed, the furnace should be replaced immediately.

The most visible signs of incomplete combustion in a furnace are soot collection on the furnace filters and burners, yellow flame appearance, and the formation of excessive vapors on the interior walls and windows during the appliance’s operation. Given that CO gas is highly undetectable by smell or taste, it could kill animals, people, and plants very fast.

Solution

Once replaced, ensure that the heating pipes, air ducts, and ventilation are checked periodically to be certain they are functioning properly. As a habit, look for CO alarms in your furnace. Also, have CO detectors installed.
Besides carbon monoxide, your furnace could also be emitting dust and other harmful contaminants into the air.

Therefore, have the air filter checked every 30 days by Edmonton furnace experts such as Capital Plumbing and have it replaced no longer than 90 days.

Capital Plumbing & Heating Ltd.

With over 20+ years of industry experience, Capital Plumbing offers the best in the business if you need expert plumbing, heating, cooling, or HVAC services in Edmonton that you can trust for the long term.