Regular Furnace Maintenance Helps Avoid Costly Repairs
Owning your first house can be overwhelming. Owning any house can be overwhelming for that matter! There is so much to take care of on a daily, weekly, monthly basis that it is very easy for some of those pesky maintenance items to fall by the wayside. I learned quickly that maintenance on our heating system is super important. It gets very cold very quickly in the snow belt. The last thing we want to happen is to wake up to a cold house or no hot water.
It happens… life happens, but there are definitely ways to keep these things from happening.
How Often Should My Furnace Be Tuned Up?
We recommend having your heating system serviced annually, preferably in the fall before it gets too cold. This allows for a skilled technician to take a look at your system before it starts working overtime to pump out the heat. The technician will likely spot any issues or potential problems with the system.
Statistics show that 75 percent of all no-heat calls in the winter are related to systems that have not been maintained.
Who wants to be left out in the cold? No one! And we don’t want to leave anyone in the cold either. For every one of those no heat calls that we are responding to, we are making sure that we are coming back to fully service the unit after it is up and running again.
Why do we recommend this?
Most importantly, we don’t want to see you have any other problems with your heating unit. The inspection and service aim to catch any other problems before the furnace or boiler stops working in the middle of the night.
We want your heating unit to work efficiently and save on energy costs. Furnace maintenance helps to keep your unit running efficiently and, ultimately, saves you money. I know that since we started having our furnace serviced annually, we spend a lot less money on fuel. Estimates indicate annual maintenance of your heating system can save you up to 30%. Annual maintenance will also prolong the life of the system.
Energy Star also has a few recommendations for aiding in the efficiency of your heating costs. This federal agency suggests replacing the air filter every three months and installing a programmable thermostat so that you are not heating an empty house unnecessarily, but can still come home to a comfortable temperature.
Furnace Safety Checks Avoid Dangerous Carbon Monoxide Leaks
This leads me to safety recommendations. An annual inspection will also detect carbon monoxide leaks. Carbon monoxide can cause people to have a headache, or to feel dizzy or nauseous. Exposure to carbon monoxide can lead to serious illness or even death.
If you haven’t gotten your call for heating system service yet, don’t worry—it’s coming!! We are doing our best to work through these services for all of our customers and hoping to start them earlier next year to have everyone up and ready before the first cold snap hits!
