Check your furnace

Working with contractors has proved to be difficult as my following posts will explain. My house is not their living space, so they only care about it so much (if they were ranked on a "caring likert scale" I'd have them hovering between "not at all" to "little"). Well, early on in the demolition phase of my kitchen the electrician did some of his tinkering. He most likely had to shut off the breaker box to cut all of the power. I'm 100% in favor of taking safety precautions. The last thing anyone wants is a toasted electrician in their house.

My caution to homeowners is: When having any sort of electrical work done, be sure to check your furnace daily. I woke up in the middle of the night extremely cold (I'm lucky construction started in March and not December or January), but I heard my furnace running. I forced myself to face the freezing air to figure out the problem. The thermostat on the main floor was set at its normal temperature. I ventured to the even colder basement to check out the furnace itself. Turns out that at some point that day, the pilot light was extinguished. Even though the furnace was running, it wasn't heating the house.

It's a simple fix, but not something I would recommend having to do in the middle of a cold night. I've added the fix below in case someone would like to know how to light a pilot light.



How To Light a Furnace Pilot Light

The pilot light on a gas furnace can go out because of drafts. To relight the pilot, follow the manufacturer's instructions exactly; they are usually fastened to the furnace. If instructions for relighting the pilot are not provided, follow this general procedure:

Step 1: Find pilot light assembly. It typically has a gas valve with on, off, and pilot settings.
Step 2: Turn valve to off and wait three minutes.

I recommend using one of these

Step 3: Switch valve to pilot setting. Hold lighted match  or lighter to pilot opening while you push reset button on pilot control panel. Keep this button depressed until pilot flame burns brightly, then set valve to on position.
Step 4: If pilot flame won't stay lit, opening may be clogged. Turn gas valve off, and clean opening with piece of fine wire. If it won't stay lit after several attempts, you may have faulty thermocouple. If pilot flame still won't stay lit, call professional service person.

Some furnaces have an electrical system to ignite the gas; in these systems there is no pilot light. Instead, an electric element heats up and ignites the burners. If this electric ignition system malfunctions, call a professional service person.

(source: http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-repair-gas-furnaces2.htm)