Bakersfield does not get a hard winter, but it gets a real one: tule fog, mornings in the high 30s, and colder still up in Tehachapi. It is also the season people fire up a furnace that has been idle since spring, and that first run raises a few predictable questions. Most have calm answers. One is genuinely about safety.
The first-run smell
A dusty, burning smell during the first hour of the season's first furnace run is normal. It is summer dust burning off the heat exchanger, and it clears on its own. Running the furnace for an hour with a window cracked before the first cold snap gets it over with on your schedule, instead of at 5 a.m. on the coldest morning of the year.
The smell that is not normal
A gas smell is never routine. If you smell gas, do not investigate, do not flip switches, and do not wait. Leave the house first, then call the gas utility and 911 from outside. A gas issue is not a fix-it-yourself situation and not a wait-for-morning one.
Carbon monoxide, and the law
The real winter safety issue with any gas appliance is carbon monoxide, a gas you cannot see or smell. California's Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act requires carbon monoxide alarms in homes with fossil-fuel appliances, fireplaces, or an attached garage, and has since 2011 for single-family homes. The alarms must sit outside each sleeping area and be listed by the State Fire Marshal.
If your home has a gas furnace and you cannot remember the last time you tested the carbon monoxide alarm, that is the single most important thing to do before heating season. If you do not have one, get one before you run the furnace.
The cracked heat exchanger
The specific furnace failure that produces carbon monoxide is a cracked heat exchanger. It is not common, but it is the reason a furnace inspection is a safety check and not just a tune-up. An honest company that finds a cracked heat exchanger will not patch it, it will tell you the furnace needs to be replaced, because that crack is a carbon monoxide path into the house. If an alarm ever sounds, treat it like the gas smell: everyone outside, then call 911.
Cold air from the vents
A less alarming winter question is a furnace blowing cool air. The usual causes are a thermostat set to fan on instead of auto, which runs the blower even when the furnace is not heating, a clogged filter tripping a safety switch, a dirty flame sensor, or a failed igniter. The first two are homeowner checks. The rest need a technician, but none of them are emergencies.
The short list
Winter here is mild enough that the furnace is easy to ignore until the first fog rolls in. The list is simple: run it once early to burn off the dust, treat any gas smell as a leave-the-house emergency, and above all make sure a working carbon monoxide alarm is standing guard before heating season starts. The fog is the inconvenience. The alarm is the thing that actually matters.
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Sources
- California Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act, alarm requirements
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and manufacturer guidance on furnace operation and safety