How to Prevent a Furnace Emergency This Winter

Skiing, sledding, ice skating, and holiday get-togethers are all great things to do during winter. However, with the cold-season activities comes the cold weather. Before your furnace starts getting a daily workout in the coming weeks, here are some excellent ways to prevent a furnace emergency in your home.

Change the Filters

You’ll do both your heating and air conditioning systems a favor by changing the filter. Dirty filters don’t let the warm air through, meaning that your furnace has to work harder to follow the orders of the thermostat. Dirty filters not only lower the efficiency of your furnace, but they also shorten its life. ENERGY STAR® recommends changing filters every month if you notice they’re dirty or at least every three months even if they don’t appear to have collected any dirt and debris.

Install a Programmable Thermostat

Constantly adjusting the temperature up and down is another way to put stress on the furnace and shorten its life. Installing a programmable thermostat is an option to consider. Your temperatures remain constantly low during work, school, and sleeping hours, but will fire up to a predetermined comfortable temperature once you get home from the office or greet the new day.

You’ll do both your heating and air conditioning systems a favor by changing the filter. Dirty filters don’t let the warm air through, meaning that your furnace has to work harder to follow the orders of the thermostat. Dirty filters not only lower the efficiency of your furnace, but they also shorten its life.

Schedule a Furnace Maintenance Service

You don’t ignore the postcard from your vet notifying you that the cat is due for a yearly checkup, nor the email from your mechanic letting you know it’s time for its 50,000-mile service. Don’t let a year go by without scheduling maintenance with your HVAC company. Most providers recommend the following:

• Check and tighten all the electrical connections. Loose or faulty connections not only lessen efficiency, but they shorten the life of furnace components. While the technician is in there, they will measure the voltage and current on motors.
  
  
• Check all oil or gas connections. Leaks can be a fire hazard as well as a health hazard.
  
  
• Test all the controls to make sure the system will work safely and properly.
  
  
• Check the starting cycle to make sure the system starts, operates, and shuts down properly.
  
  
• Test the thermostat. If necessary, your HVAC technician may calibrate it to make sure it will measure the temperature accurately so it can keep your home comfortable.
  
  
• Lubricate all moving parts. Parts that run without sufficient lubrication produce friction in the motor, requiring more electricity to keep them running.
  
  
• Inspect the condensate drain. If this gets plugged, it can lead to water damage and raise the humidity levels in the house.

Schedule a Duct Cleaning

Let us help you avoid a furnace emergency this winter. Call us at Buckeye Heating, Cooling & Plumbing today to schedule an inspection.