If you are like most homeowners, you call a heating repair professional at the first sign of trouble. You don’t have to do this as some of the problems are minor and you can easily fix them by yourself. Instead of calling the contractor, here are some of the things you should do:
Inspect the air filter
The air filter regulates the amount of air that gets in and out of the house. Since it’s always in constant contact with dust, it’s common for it to accumulate dust.
This results in a lot of issues such as restricted airflow, decreased efficiency, and large energy bills. In some cases, your heating unit might stop working when the air filter is too dirty.
For you to clean the filter you should remove it from the furnace or the heating unit that you are using and hold it up to a light source. If you can’t see light coming through it, it’s dirty and it’s time for you to clean it. If it’s too dirty, you should replace it.
Double check the thermostat
The thermostat controls the furnace. When you set it improperly, you not only risk the furnace grinding to a halt, you also risk it consuming a lot of energy when working. The cool thing is that it’s easy to check whether the thermostat settings are correct.
You should ensure that the unit is set to heat and not cool. You also should ensure that the temperature is set above the current indoor temperature. When switching over to the heat setting, you should turn the thermostat a few extra degrees to ensure that it’s running as it’s supposed to.
Take a look at the air vents
Many things can happen to the vents. They can clog up with dust, get blocked by dead animals, or simply leak. Before you contact the heating systems tune up professional you should take a look at the vents. Sometimes all you need to do is clean them and your system will start working as good as new.
You should avoid fixing leakage problems especially if you have never done it before as you risk causing more problems than they are already are. In such a scenario you should hire an expert to help you out.
Conclusion
These are some of the things that you should do before you give your heating contractor a call. If you have to hire HVAC contractors, ensure that they are certified and experienced to handle the problem.
