Had a guy swear up and down his furnace was haunted—kept ignoring the thermostat. Turned out his dog had chewed through the wire behind the wall. Sometimes it’s not even the furnace’s fault… gotta love those curveballs. I always start with the basics, but you never know what you’ll find.
Had something similar, except it was a mouse that made a nest right where the wires connect. Took me forever to figure out why the heat kept kicking on at random. Turns out, mice don’t care about your comfort settings.
Had a squirrel chew through my thermostat wire once—took me ages to track it down. If your heater’s acting up, I always check for critter damage first. Sometimes it’s just a loose connection, but those little guys can cause chaos you’d never expect.
Sometimes it’s just a loose connection, but those little guys can cause chaos you’d never expect.
Honestly, I always hope it’s just a loose wire—cheaper to fix. But yeah, squirrels are like tiny demolition crews. I once spent half a day blaming the thermostat before realizing a mouse had chewed through the insulation in the crawlspace. Never thought something so small could mess up my heating bill that much...
Had a similar thing happen last winter—kept swapping out thermostats thinking that was the issue. Turned out a chipmunk had built a nest right next to the control board and chewed through a couple wires. Took me way too long to track it down. Sometimes it’s not the obvious stuff, and those critters can really do a number on your wiring before you even notice. Always check the crawlspace or attic if things aren’t adding up.