Your furnace does a lot of important jobs around your house. It filters out dust and allergens, controls the temperature in your home, moves air throughout your home, and most importantly, keeps it comfortable for you and your family during the winter. In order to ensure it can continue to do its job properly, you’ve got to perform preventative maintenance, which includes an inspection performed by a qualified HVAC service. Inspection, service and maintenance will keep your entire HVAC system running at peak efficiency and catch common problems before they escalate.

Keeps the Furnace Reliable and Efficient

Having your furnace inspected before problems are present is going to keep it reliable and efficient. This means setting up an inspection before the winter or before it’s time to turn it on. Fall maintenance is recommended by HVAC specialists and can save you time, money and a possible furnace breakdown. Inspection and maintenance will ensure your system is efficient, safe, has a clean filter and is operating to the manufacturer’s specifications. Additionally, a specialist will perform a carbon monoxide (CO) safety test and ensure the furnace is operating at a safe temperature.

Identifies Common HVAC Problems

Furnace maintenance and inspection can identify various problems, including dust and allergen clogs, hindered airflow and thermal stress. However, there are many more common and hard-to-diagnose HVAC problems maintenance and inspection can identify, such as:

• Burners that burn improperly
• A loose blower belt
• An air filter that needs to be replaced
• An AC condensing coil and blower fan blades that need to be cleaned and cleared of dust
• Wiring harnesses that are loose
• Blower motor bearing that needs lubrication
• A blocked condensate drain
• Slow leaking coolant from the air conditioning system
• Duct work that’s been loosened by normal thermal contraction and expansion

Keeps Your Furnace Running Efficiently Between Yearly Maintenance Visits

An HVAC specialist is not the only one who can perform maintenance on your furnace. Besides having your furnace checked annually, you can perform maintenance yourself by ensuring the area around the furnace is clean and clear of debris, ensuring the flame is a safe colour, taking note of any strange sounds, calling a pro as soon as a problem is suspected or repair is needed, and most importantly, changing your filter at least twice a year. A dirty and clogged filter is the main cause of equipment issues and mechanical failures. They can:

• Reduce the air quality of your home, aggravating respiratory conditions
• Force your fan motor to use more energy, which damages your system
• Restrict airflow, putting more strain on the fan motor, causing equipment failure and overheating
• Increase energy costs

The bottom line is that furnace maintenance is required to keep your HVAC system running safely and efficiently. By having an HVAC specialist monitor your system’s performance, you’ll save money and avoid a catastrophic mid-winter furnace breakdown!