Proper Maintenance Tips for Your Home Furnace

Your home furnace is what keeps you warm during the cold Ohio winters. If it breaks down, your home will get colder and colder while you wait on the furnace repair technician to show up. This is why it’s important to perform routine maintenance checks on your furnace to prevent and minimize the need for repairs. 

Here are some maintenance tips for your home furnace. You can perform some tasks yourself, while the rest should be left to a professional. Let’s start with what you can do yourself:

• Make sure your heating system is working properly. Set your thermostat to heat and verify that your furnace turns on. Your house should heat up to the indicated temperature, and then signal the furnace to shut off. If it’s not working as expected, call in a professional.
• Check your furnace filters. This is something you should do at least once a month. Clogged filters can cause your heating system to run longer and less efficiently, driving up heating costs. Clean or replace your filters as needed.

You should have a professional perform an annual maintenance inspection regularly. During the inspection and cleaning, your HVAC technician will usually complete the following:

• Check the condition of the blower. Your technician will verify that there are no obstructions to airflow. If needed, he will lubricate the blower’s motor to make sure it runs smooth in the heating system.
• Remove and clean the furnace’s burners. Your professional will inspect the interior of your combustion chamber for defects and corrosion. He will also clean the burners to remove dust and debris, as well as inspect the sensor and pilot to make sure they’re working properly.
• Perform safety tests. Your inspector will make sure the furnace’s safety features are working properly by verifying the rate of fuel usage. Finally, he will verify that your furnace is burning clean and not producing any carbon monoxide.

If you need to see if your home furnace is performing properly, call the experts in Cleveland at Stack Heating & Cooling.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about furnaces and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Credit/Copyright Attribution: “ARENA-Creative/Shutterstock”