What causes a furnace to trip a circuit breaker?
Zoe Patterson
Published Feb 07, 2026
What causes a furnace to trip a circuit breaker?
Both short circuits and ground faults greatly increase the amount of electrical current your furnace is pulling, which trips the breaker. They’re most often caused by malfunctioning parts, an incorrect repair, or a rodent chewing some of the wires.
What does a 15 amp furnace breaker do?
For example, most furnace breakers are 15-amp breakers. If more than 15-amps of electricity flows through it, the breaker will trip and turn off electricity to that circuit to prevent the wires from overheating.
Why do I need to Reset my furnace breaker?
Why you shouldn’t keep resetting your furnace breaker. Circuit breakers are safety devices that help prevent home fires. Each wire in your home is rated to handle a certain amount of electrical current (measured in amps). If too much electrical current passes through your wires, they can overheat, melt, and cause a fire.
Can a leaky air duct cause a breaker to trip?
When your HVAC system has leaky air ducts, the heated air is continuously escaping, causing your furnace to work harder than usual to heat your home. Anytime your system has to work harder than usual, the possibility of tripping your circuit breaker exists.
What happens if I trip the circuit breaker in my RV?
If you’re having electrical issues in your RV, one of the first things to check is the RV circuit breaker. If your main circuit breaker trips, this will take out all of the electricity in your rig. Meanwhile, it’s also possible to trip one of several other, more minor RV breakers.
What happens if your furnace trips circuit breaker?
If the furnace trips circuit breaker then you may have a larger problem on your hands. This may lead to a safety concern and you should have a professional HVAC company come out to inspect the unit for problems. Continue reading to become more familiar with these types of problems.
For example, most furnace breakers are 15-amp breakers. If more than 15-amps of electricity flows through it, the breaker will trip and turn off electricity to that circuit to prevent the wires from overheating.
Why you shouldn’t keep resetting your furnace breaker. Circuit breakers are safety devices that help prevent home fires. Each wire in your home is rated to handle a certain amount of electrical current (measured in amps). If too much electrical current passes through your wires, they can overheat, melt, and cause a fire.