Heating / Cooling / Electrical


At Bush Electric we understand electricity, heating and air-conditioning. As part of our commitment to our customers, we offer the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions concerning our services.
Please be advised the following is for informational purposes only and Bush Electric accepts no responsibility for the use or misuse of the following information. There is no substitution for expertise, so please call us at 1 (800) 678-5848 before attempting any of the following.
REMEMBER THAT ELECTRICITY CAN KILL!

Heating FAQS

Question #1: My pilot won't stay lit.
Answer:: You may have a dirty pilot or bad thermocouple

Question #2: The burner comes on and only stays on 1 minute than goes off.
Answer:: May have a dirty filter or the heat anticipator on the thermostat is set too low.

Question #3: The burner comes on but the fan doesn't.
Answer:: It could be a bad fan motor or fan control.

Question #4: My furnace won't come on and the pilot is on.
Answer:: Check thermostat and breakers or fuses.

Question #5: The furnace runs but goes off before it gets up to temperature.
Answer:: Check thermostat, it could be out of calibration.

Cooling FAQS

Question #1: My A/C won't run
Answer:: Check the thermostat and breakers

Question #2: The A/C runs but doesn't cool right.
Answer:: Check filters on furnace or air handler and clean condenser coil on outside unit.

Question #3: The inside coil on furnace freezes up
Answer:: Check filter on furnace or air handler and check if motor is running.

Question #4: 95 degrees outside and my A/C runs all the time.
Answer:: At 95 degrees it will run all the time, that is what is it designed to do.

Question #5: I got home an hour ago and turned the A/C on and it is still 85 degrees in here and it was 89 when I turned it on.
Answer:: If you turn the A/C on in the afternoon when it is hot outside and inside it could take 3 or 4 hours or more to cool it. You have to cool all of the furniture and walls off.

Question #6: Water is running out of coil on furnace down through furnace.
Answer:: Check condensate drain to see if it is plugged up.

Question #7: A/C runs all the time and doesn't cool and filter is clean and condenser coil is clean.
Answer:: Call for service , it could be low on freon or compressor isn't pumping.

Question #8 The blower on furnace runs but outside unit doesn't run.
Answer:: Check thermostat to see it is calling for cooling. Check breaker for unit and check disconnect switch outside.

Question #9: Outside unit runs but fan on furnace doesn't
Answer:: It could be a bad blower motor or blower relay, call for service.

Question #10: The blower inside or unit outside doesn't run and thermostat is set right and breakers oar on.
Answer:: Call for service. It could be a bad transformer in furnace or air handler.

Electric FAQS (back to top)

CAUTION: Never try to make electric repairs or take the cover off your breaker or fuse box unless you are sure you know what you are doing.
ELECTRIC CAN KILL!

Question #1: My electric is out. What should I do?
Answer::
Step #1: Check with a neighbor, if they are also out, call the power company.

Step #2: If your neighbor has power and you do not, check your main breaker or main fuses. In case you have main breaker (it may be outside under meter base) Reset the main breaker or change the main fuses.

Step #3: If the preceding does not restore electric, check each breaker below main and reset. (in case of fuses, check each plug fuse below main fuses)

Step #4: If you still do not have electric, call us for a service call. Again, be sure your power company does not have a power outage.

Question #2: 1/2 of my lights are dim and the other 1/2 are very bright.
Answer: This is usually a sign of a loose neutral. This could be the power company supply drop or a problem in the meter base or your house wiring. Disconnect all motors and refrigerators at once. Do not use refrigerator or any appliances while this problem exists. It can burn them out. Call power company. If the power company does not have a problem with the supply or the meter base, call for a service call.

Question #3: I want to bury an underground feed to a post light. How deep should it be?
Answer: CAUTION If you have underground electric, phone, cable TV, gas water or sewer on your property, be sure you know where it is located before you do any digging on your property. Your life may depend on it. Call OUPS 800-362-2764 (3) days before you dig. OUPS will dispatch your utility companies to your property to mark underground lines. The minimum depth of electrical lines not in conduit that do not cross driveways is 24 inches.

Question #4: I need to add a new circuit and my breaker box is full. Do I have to install a new breaker box with more circuits.
Answer: Most breaker box manufacturers make what is known as a piggy back breaker. A piggy back breaker will replace (1) existing regular breaker and allow you to reconnect the existing circuit to (1) 1/2 and the new circuit to the other half.

Question #5: My electric bill is 20% more this month than last. What is causing this?
Answer:: This is a very complex problem in that there may be (1) or more
answers to it. Your electric meter only turns when you are using electric. Except on a rare occasion a meter can go bad and the power company is the only one who can fix this. Electric does not run out of lamp sockets when there is not a bulb in the socket, which is a common misconception.

It could be one or more of the following reasons or some other reason not listed. These are a few I have see in the past forty years.

#1: Did you add any new appliances or lights last month?

#2: Did you do extra cooking the past month, such as holidays or parties?

#3: Do you have an underground cable to a post light or out building that could have developed a low impedance leak to ground.

#4: Check the door seals on your refrigerators and freezers, they could have gone bad. Close the door on a piece of paper. If you can easily pull the paper out, chances are the seal is bad. Be sure to keep refrigerator and freezers defrosted and vacuum condenser coils periodically.

#5: If you have an electric water heater, when was the last time it was flushed out? Lime over a period of time can build up around the element and cause a shortage of hot water as well as take the water heater longer to heat. If not taken care of, it can burn out the heating element.

#6: Are your furnace filters clean? Dirty filters can cause the blower to run a longer time to heat your house in the winter and cause the air conditioner to run longer in the summer to cool your house.

#7: If your house is on a well and you have a pressure tank, is it water logged? If it is, the pump will start and stop more often and this will increase energy use. Bad toilet or faucet seals or under ground leaks can cause you to pump more water and use more energy as will as waste water and use more softer salt.

#8: When was the last time you changed your florescent lamps? As florescent lamps burn, the light output drops off while they use just as much energy. If you do not change flickering florescent lamps or lamps in a fixture with just (1) of (2) lamps operating, you may have to change the ballast as well as the lamps and this will cost a lot more. There are more energy saving lamps and ballast's on the market today you may what to have installed.

#9: Did you install a new appliance with an undersized cable? Not only is this dangerous, it can cost more to operate the appliance. Never connect an appliance to an extension cord or an undersized cable.

#10: Be sure if you have lights in the attic, crawl space or unused closets, you did not forget to turn these lights off the last time you used them.

#11: Last, but not least, check your meter reading dates on your utility bills. You may have a bill with more days billed than the month before with the lower total cost. There are other causes for increase energy use, that do not come to mind. These are the most common. Discuss this problem with your power company. Many power company's offer a free energy audit. If not give us a call.