No doubt about it, a well-maintained furnace will heat your home more effectively and efficiently than one that’s been neglected. But that’s only part of the story. Many homeowners leave all the furnace maintenance to the professional HVAC technician who visits each the fall or winter. But maintaining your furnace also needs your help.
Take some of these simple maintenance steps to optimize furnace operation this winter:
Keep an eye on the thermostat.
A thermostat, especially an older model, can fall out of calibration. The house will be colder or warmer than the temperature on the thermostat. If you suspect your thermostat isn’t providing the correct temperature, call an HVAC technician to check it out. They may be able to repair it, or may suggest it is time for you to upgrade to a WiFi programmable thermostat, both for comfort and energy savings.
Change the filter as recommended by the filter manufacturer.
A clogged air filter will impede airflow that’s essential for proper furnace operation and air circulation, and may allow dirt and debris to get into sensitive furnace components. Your HVAC pro will change your filters when they visit twice a year for your spring/summer and fall/winter maintenance tune up visits. For example, if you use the 30 day filters, you will need to change them 10 months out of the year. When choosing a replacement, avoid the cheapest flat-panel filters, since they only remove the largest particulates from the air.
Make sure vents and registers are clean and unobstructed.
If rugs, furniture, drapes or other objects are blocking a register, the room won’t heat properly. Vacumn and clean around the registers to keep the area clean.
Schedule furnace maintenance.
Perhaps the most important part of maintaining your furnace is scheduling a professional furnace maintenance visit annually right before the heating season.
For furnace maintenance you can trust in your eastern North Carolina home, please contact us at Jackson & Sons Heating and Air Conditioning.
Jackson & Sons, Inc.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Eastern North Carolina (including Wayne, Johnston, Greene, Lenoir, Pitt and Duplin Counties) about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
Credit/Copyright Attribution: “unsplash_glenn-carstens-peters”
