During winter, the last thing you want is your furnace stopping in the middle of a cold night. This is embarrassing (if you have friends over) and expensive as you have to hire emergency furnace service professionals.
As a responsible homeowner, you must be wondering, how do I make sure my furnace is working? The cool thing is it’s possible to keep your furnace in top working condition throughout the heating season. How do you do this? Here are tips to follow:
Inspect and change the furnace filters
While they seem useless, they are of vital importance to the furnace as when they get dirty, they force the air furnace to run inefficiently, which not only leads to loss of energy, they also reduce the lifespan of the furnace.
When you go for an extremely long time without cleaning the filters, you risk causing the furnace to break down prematurely. For example, when the filter is clogged, it may cause the blower motor to overheat and trip the safety sensors to shut down the furnace.
The filters might also push the components to the point where the heat exchanger develops cracks. As you might guess, a cracked heat exchanger allows toxic carbon monoxide to escape, putting your family at great risk.
To be on the safe side, inspect your filter at least once a month and replace it if dirty. If you have pets, smoke, or suffer from respiratory diseases, replace the filters more often.
When getting the new filters, ensure they are high quality and made for your environment.
Program the thermostat for winter
If you are new with thermostats, you must be wondering what is programming the thermostat for winter. Well, this is setting the thermostat for as low a temperature as is comfortable.
The lower the temperature you set on your thermostat, the less the energy your furnace will use to heat your home, which translates to more money in your pocket.
The best time to lower the temperature is when everyone is out of the house. Also, do it if leaving for a vacation. While you stand to save a lot of money from keeping your temperature low, remember to maintain it above 55 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent the pipes from freezing.
If you still have a manual or dial thermostat, consider upgrading to a programmable thermostat to have an easy time setting the temperatures.
When setting it up, program the settings to coincide with the household routines. For example, you should have settings for weekdays when everyone is at work or school and a different program for weekends when everyone is at home.
When buying a new thermostat, go for a more advanced one as it will give you plenty of features to work with. For example, with a more advanced thermostat, you can use an app on your Smartphone and raise the temperature while at work, so you find a toasty house when you get back.
A more advanced thermostat also allows you to change the temperature on your phone or tablet without leaving your room.
Get rid of airflow obstructions.
If you visit most homes, you will find the air handlers in basements or garages. Unfortunately, these are the places you use for storage, which puts the furnace at the risk of getting chocked by obstructions.
To ensure the furnace is in top working condition at all times, keep a three to five-foot area around the furnace to allow optimum airflow. Getting rid of obstructions also prevents fires from coming about.
Tune-up the furnace
There is no way you will keep your furnace working efficiently without tuning it up. The best time to tune up the appliance is in the fall, as at this time, most furnace repair services Falls Church providers aren’t too engaged.
Doing the tune-up at this time also ensures the tune-ups are complete before the first snow. The furnace technicians will inspect all parts of the furnace and fix any faulty areas.
In addition to the tune-ups giving you peace of mind that your furnace is in top working condition, it also saves you energy as the furnace operates at high-efficiency levels. For best results, ensure you work with highly experienced furnace technicians.
