Your heating system puts in plenty of work each year in winter. Your heating system operates during cold nights, cold early mornings, and all in between just to make sure that your home and your family stays warm and cozy during winter days. As such, maintenance services from experts are required to ensure efficiency of these units.
The common question that homeowners often ask is: how often to service furnace to operate safely and efficiently? The response is quite clear, although there are several important facts about the matter that people should know for their own safety, comfort, energy consumption, and equipment longevity.
The Simple Answer Every Homeowner Needs
Service your furnace annually. It is always the recommended frequency by all HVAC experts, equipment manufactures, and safety experts.
Furnaces should be serviced annually to ensure peak performance, minimize repair costs, and keep the furnace in good condition through the whole period. This will allow you to avoid the problem of servicing when the weather is already too cold.
The knowledge of how often your furnace needs servicing is only half of the work done. The rest lies in the actual service of the furnace.
Why Annual Servicing Is Non-Negotiable
While some property owners consider furnace maintenance unnecessary and forego it if there are no apparent problems in a particular year, it is actually a very expensive oversight that usually surfaces at the most inconvenient time.
Your furnace collects dirt, grime, and other wear-and-tear effects each and every year, and parts that were working perfectly last winter could now be compromised before the new heating season starts. Regular servicing catches any problems early on, as minor and inexpensive repairs rather than major system breakdowns during the depths of January.
In addition to maintenance, yearly servicing will ensure that your furnace operates efficiently. A clogged and poorly maintained unit will require considerably more energy to generate the same level of heat than a well-cared-for furnace. The difference in energy consumption translates to extra costs on your monthly utility bill over the course of the season.
What Actually Happens During a Furnace Service Visit
Many customers choose to skip the service due to uncertainty about the service itself. Here is a list of services that should be performed by a competent technician.
- Heat exchanger inspection – One of the main safety precautions that a technician must perform throughout the whole service process. A cracked heat exchanger can let carbon monoxide into your home and cause great damage, which cannot be detected without special equipment.
- Burner cleaning and adjustment – Burners filled with dirt operate inefficiently and waste more fuel than needed. Burners are cleaned and adjusted to ensure proper combustion.
- Filter inspection and replacement – An air filter clogged with dirt affects the quality of air inside the house and makes your system work harder than needed. The technician will check your existing filter and replace it if required.
- Check blower motor and belt – Checking, cleaning, greasing and testing the blower motor along with its accessories.
- Check flue/venting – Ensuring exhaust gases exit the furnace properly without any obstruction and are safely discharged out of the building so as not to create any hazardous situation inside.
- Testing the thermostat – An improperly calibrated thermostat leads to excess running of the unit resulting in wastage of fuel.
- Complete system check – Complete system check to determine if the unit is working as expected and detect any unusual noise or vibration problems during operation.
Warning Signs Your Furnace Needs Attention Between Services
The frequency at which the furnace systems should be serviced on a regular basis is crucial. Similarly, it is equally crucial to know the signs that the furnace needs to be looked after outside the annually scheduled routine servicing.
Strange sounds such as banging, rattling or squealing while the furnace is operating means there is something mechanically wrong that requires urgent servicing. Exorbitantly high energy bills for no apparent reason mean that the furnace is under more strain than necessary to work properly. Inconsistent heating in various rooms suggests that the flow of heat in your home is somehow blocked. Cycling between on/off too frequently can also point towards the same problem. Anytime you see your furnace burner emitting yellow flames when it normally emits blue flames, you need immediate assistance.
Pay heed to all these signs because ignoring them means you might end up facing big issues.
The Long-Term Value of Regular Furnace Maintenance
Furnaces that are properly maintained tend to last much longer than those that are not. It is common for furnaces to last anywhere from 15 to 20 years if they are properly maintained. However, without regular maintenance, the life of your furnace will be shortened dramatically. It is important to weigh the costs associated with maintaining your furnace annually versus having to replace it due to neglect.
The numbers will prove to be in your favor.
Keep Your Home Warm and Your Family Safe
Knowledge about how often to service the furnaces will only be useful if you follow it through and do it regularly. Ensure you schedule an appointment for the yearly servicing even before the start of the season and be keen on the possible danger signals throughout the period.For the best furnace servicing service that guarantees safety and warmth in your home during the winter season, contact Frozen Flame today.
