Furnace Will Not Turn On? Troubleshooting a Goodman MBVK Electric Furn

0 comments

If you’re standing in a cold house staring at a thermostat that should be calling for heat, you’re probably cycling through the same thoughts I hear every winter:

furnace will not turn on
furnace does not turn on
why my furnace is not turning on
or, confusingly enough, gas furnace not turning on

And here’s where things get tricky—especially if your system is a Goodman MBVK electric furnace.

Because a lot of the advice people find online for “furnace not turning on” is written for gas furnaces, even when the homeowner doesn’t actually have a gas furnace.

So today, we’re going to slow this down, clear the confusion, and walk through this the right way—Jake Lawson style. No guessing. No panic. No chasing fixes that don’t apply to your system.

First, let’s address the biggest source of confusion right away

If you have a Goodman MBVK electric furnace setup, this statement matters more than anything else in this article:

You do not have a gas furnace.

The Goodman MBVK is an air handler platform that becomes an electric furnace when paired with electric heat strips. There is:

no gas line,
no burners,
no ignition,
no pilot light,
no combustion.

So if you’re searching gas furnace not turning on, but you own an MBVK-based system, you’re already chasing the wrong problem.

Goodman clearly positions the MBVK as an air handler designed to work with electric heat kits, not gas heat. You can see that directly in their product overview. (Goodman MBVK Series overview)

That doesn’t mean your heat problem isn’t real—it just means the cause and solution live in a different category.

Why “furnace will not turn on” means different things to different people

When someone says their furnace won’t turn on, they might mean:

Nothing happens at all
The blower runs, but there’s no heat
It starts, then shuts off
It worked yesterday, not today
The thermostat clicks, but the system doesn’t respond

All of those fall under furnace does not turn on, but they point to very different causes—especially for electric furnaces.

So the first step is clarity.

Step one: what exactly is not turning on?

Let’s separate the system into its basic pieces:

Thermostat
Control power
Blower motor
Heating elements (electric heat strips)

A Goodman MBVK electric furnace can fail in any one of these areas while the others still appear “alive.”

That’s why people get confused.

If nothing turns on at all

If you set the thermostat to heat and:

no blower,
no sound,
no response,

this is usually power-related, not a heating problem.

Check breakers (all of them)

Electric furnaces often have:

one breaker for the blower/control circuit,
one or more breakers for electric heat strips.

If even one critical breaker is tripped, the system may appear dead.

Turn breakers fully OFF, then ON—not just “wiggled.”

Check the furnace disconnect

Many MBVK installs include a local disconnect near the unit. If it’s off, the furnace will not turn on no matter what the thermostat says.

Check the thermostat screen

If the thermostat is blank:

batteries may be dead,
or low-voltage power from the furnace is missing.

If the thermostat is dead, the furnace will never receive the command to turn on.

If the blower runs but there’s no heat

This is one of the most common complaints I hear—and one of the most misleading.

The homeowner says:

“My furnace does not turn on.”

But in reality, the furnace is turning on—the heat just isn’t.

For a Goodman MBVK electric furnace, that narrows the problem dramatically.

Most common causes

1. Tripped heat-strip breaker

Electric heat strips draw a lot of current. If a breaker trips:

the blower can still run,
but no heat will be produced.

This alone causes thousands of “furnace will not turn on” searches every winter.

2. High-limit safety open

If airflow is restricted:

dirty filter,
blocked return,
closed supply vents,

the heat strips can overheat. When that happens, the system shuts off heat to protect itself while allowing the blower to keep running.

This feels exactly like “the furnace quit.”

Replace the filter first. Always.

3. Thermostat staging issue

If your MBVK is paired with a heat pump:

the thermostat may be calling for heat pump operation,
not electric heat.

Heat pump air can feel lukewarm, leading people to believe the furnace isn’t on—even though it is.

The U.S. Department of Energy explains how electric resistance heat and heat pumps behave differently, which helps explain why airflow temperature can feel misleading. (DOE heating systems overview)

If the furnace starts, then shuts off

This is where people start asking why my furnace is not turning on, even though it did turn on—briefly.

For electric furnaces, this almost always points to airflow problems.

Why airflow matters so much with electric heat

Electric heating elements heat up extremely fast. Without enough airflow:

temperatures spike,
safety limits trip,
heat shuts down.

The system isn’t broken—it’s protecting itself.

What to check immediately

Replace the air filter
Make sure returns aren’t blocked
Open all supply registers
Check that nothing is obstructing airflow near the unit

If heat shuts off repeatedly, stop resetting it and fix airflow first.

Why gas furnace advice keeps confusing electric furnace owners

Let’s talk about the keyword gas furnace not turning on.

That phrase dominates search results. Most articles you’ll find talk about:

pilot lights,
flame sensors,
igniters,
gas valves.

None of that exists in a Goodman MBVK electric furnace.

So when someone follows gas-furnace troubleshooting steps on an electric system, they end up thinking:

something is missing,
something is broken,
or the furnace is “dead.”

In reality, they’re just using the wrong playbook.

Goodman’s MBVK installation documentation makes it clear that electric heat operation relies on electrical safeties and airflow—not combustion components. (Goodman MBVK installation manual)

How to correctly restart a Goodman MBVK electric furnace

If your furnace does not turn on, here’s the proper restart procedure—not guesswork.

Step 1: Turn the thermostat OFF

Not down. OFF.

Step 2: Turn OFF all furnace breakers

Give it 3–5 minutes. This allows:

control boards to reset,
relays to disengage,
safeties to normalize if conditions allow.

Step 3: Replace the air filter

Do this even if it “looks okay.”

Step 4: Restore power

Turn breakers back ON.

Step 5: Turn thermostat back to HEAT

Observe behavior.

If it fails again, the system is telling you something important. Repeated restarts won’t fix the cause.

When the furnace truly will not turn on at all

If after proper restarting:

breakers hold,
thermostat is calling,
airflow is clear,

and the system still does nothing, likely causes include:

failed control board,
failed transformer,
wiring issue,
failed blower motor,
failed heat-strip components.

At that point, it’s no longer a homeowner fix—it’s a diagnostic situation.

Why “furnace does not turn on” doesn’t always mean failure

This is the part I wish more homeowners understood.

Electric furnaces are designed to not turn on when:

airflow is unsafe,
temperatures are too high,
electrical conditions are unstable.

That’s not malfunction—that’s protection.

The absence of flame and combustion doesn’t mean electric systems are simple. They’re precise, and when they refuse to operate, there’s usually a reason worth finding.