winter cold and furnace?

Question

I live in an old mobile home (built around the 50's Im guessing). My furnace thermostat was just fixed after being without heat for close to 3 weeks. Im guessing my furnace must be as old as the mobile home (gas type) Now the furnace goes off for only maybe a minute and comes back on almost running continuously. Is it because it is an older home and the insulation isnt the greatest as with the newer ones, or maybe because the weather outside is frigid (around the teens with a windchill close to zero) or maybe because their was no heat in the home for so long. Im not sure if I should worry about this or just be thankful I have heat. Yes it is still a bit drafty but at least their is heat. I already paid a hundred dollors for someone to come and change my thermostat and i cant afford anyone to come out again. Help please! Im not that well off moneywise, living on a very tight budget. Maybe im just over reacting to this whole thing.

Answer 1

Is probly because of bad insulation. If it is real drafty in there, you thermostat is continously kicking on the furnace. Our house does the same in the winter. Best thing to do is plastic all windows and make sure all door seals are in tact and check outlets and all other little places on the outside walls of the trailer for cold air drafts. Then figure out a way to stop the draft. Good Luck.

Answer 2

I hope that by the time you read this the problem has already corrected itself. My guess is the you have a mechanical fan control on the furnace, and the return air coming back to the furnace is cool enough that it cools the heat exchanger faster then the heat exchanger is capable of producing heat and it is shutting off the blower long enough to reheat the exchanger and turn on again. At the time i am answering this, it has been 9 hours ago, if i am right your problem is gone. I see this all of the time on older furnaces. Once the temp in the house gets up, the temp in the heat exchanger can keep up.

Answer 3

You could stop some of the heat loss by getting one of those
window kits where you seal the inside of the windows by applying clear plastic with double sided tape.Then you seal by using a hair dryer on medium temp to draw it tight.
Check on the outside and under your home to make sure all
pipe and wire penetrations are sealed.Use some clear chalking
to seal any openings.
Put something on the bottom of your doors to seal any draft
coming from under the bottom of the door.
Make sure your heat registered(grilles) and fully opened and cleaned.
One main thing you can do.
Go to your Town Hall and try to get energy assistance.Each state
has these programs to help you.You can also get the materials
to seal up your place alot cheaper through their energy savings
programs.
I guess the rest of it is in Mother Natures hands.
I hope this can help you out because I wouldn't want to be cold
all the time.Good Luck

Answer 4

Sounds like you need to have the heat anticipator set correctly on your thermostat. Call the installer and make him come back for free. If the t-stat is digital it probably won't have a heat anticipator.

Answer 5

if the furnace is stopping and starting frequently while trying to maintain temperature and what you have speculated about the age of it, its probably "short cycling" and it should be checked by a pro. gas furnaces produce carbon monoxide, when they start having problems the could potentially be fatal. hope this helps.