When outdoor temperatures get too chilly, you probably turn to your furnace for warmth. Discovering that this appliance has betrayed you by blowing cold air can be devastating. Not having the ability to heat your home puts your health and safety at risk.

Start troubleshooting your furnace to eliminate cold air by addressing these common problems.

1. Leaking Air Ducts

If you are feeling cold air coming through your home's vents, the problem might not be with your furnace at all. Heated air is pushed from your furnace through a series of air ducts. These ducts deliver the heated air throughout your home.

Over time, the ducts in your home can begin to deteriorate. Leaks form that allow cold air from the unoccupied spaces between your home's walls to creep into the ducts. At the same time, the heated air traveling through the ducts escapes, causing a significant reduction in the temperature of the air delivered through your vents.

Schedule an inspection for your air ducts to repair or replace any damaged ducts that might be contributing to the delivery of cold air in your home.

2. Improper Thermostat Settings

In order for your furnace to properly heat your home, messages must be sent from the thermostat to the furnace. When your thermostat is not set accurately, your furnace will not receive the message to generate heated air.

Check the temperature setting on your thermostat to ensure it is high enough to signal the production of heated air. You should also ensure that the fan is set to the 'on' position. If you have a programmable thermostat, then a lower programmed temperature could be overriding the current setting. Look through all set programs and make changes as needed to restore heat throughout your home.

3. Extinguished Pilot Light

Furnaces that rely on natural gas as a source of fuel often have pilot lights that must remain lit in order to generate heat. The pilot light works to ignite the gas coming out of your furnace's main burner. This ignition process helps start the combustion process that results in the heating of air within the furnace.

Pilot lights can get blown out by a draft or become extinguished when the supply of natural gas coming into your home is compromised. Relighting the pilot light should restore your furnace's ability to heat the air needed to keep your home warm and cozy.

If your furnace is still having trouble, contact an HVAC company to ask about furnace repairs.