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Read our communication regarding new measures our team is enacting in this critical time.

Does a Gas Furnace Work Without Electricity?

Being a Northern Virginia homeowner, you know how bad the winters can get. The snow often causes school and work to close—sometimes for a few days—and you are cooped up in your home the entire time. But if you’re relying on your gas furnace to keep you and your family warm, think again. Your gas furnace will not work without power. But there’s no need to worry, John Nugent & Sons has some suggestions to keep your home safe and comfortable this winter.

What Components In a Gas Furnace Require Electricity?

Although your furnace is fueled by gas, there are still many components that require energy to operate. These parts include:

Circuit boards. These relay information between the furnace and thermostat.
Blower motors. Using power, the fans propel the heated air into the air duct system and push waste products from the combustion process out through the flue.
Relays. These are switches within the system controlling gas flow, the fuel regulators, and the thermocouple.

What If the Power Goes Out?

If you’re worried about the possibility of an electrical outage leaving your home without heat, you should consider having an experienced electrician from John Nugent & Sons connect the furnace to a generator that can power the furnace’s electrical components. Additional heating sources that can temporarily keep your home warm include:

A temporary wood-burning stove. For emergency heat, a wood-burning stove can be temporarily installed. All that is needed is the stove, chimney pipe with an elbow, a piece of plywood and a convenient window.
A kerosene heater. Like wood-burning stoves, this will radiate heat from all sides, allowing you to gain the maximum possible heat out of them. But when you run out of fuel, you also run out of heat.

Stay Warm in Northern Virginia

At John Nugent & Sons, we want to help you and your family to stay warm and toasty this winter without having to spend any more than you have to on heating your home. We’re heating experts and have been helping Northern Virginia area homeowners like you for more than 40 years. To learn more about keeping your heating system well maintained and to schedule an appointment, call us at 703 291-1926.