A Checklist For Heater Maintenance

It's important to have a good grasp on the maintenance needs of your furnace so you know you aren't neglecting it. Knowledge will translate into the ability to keep your system running well and working efficiently, and this means you get a nice, warm house without unnecessary expenses. Here is a checklist that you can use as a guide to properly maintaining your forced-air heating system. A forced-air system is one that heats the air and then moves the warm air through vents to increase the overall temperature of the rooms throughout your home. Here is a simple checklist you can follow.

Maintenance for the thermostat

If you are like a lot of people, you may not give any more thought to your thermostat than using it to set the temperature to where you want it and using it to turn the system on and off. However, you should be putting a little more thought into the thermostat when it comes to maintenance for the system as a whole.

You are going to want to listen to the system every once in a while after setting the thermostat and make sure the furnace doesn't turn off after only a few moments once you increase the temperature on the thermostat. If the furnace does stop running right away, it may mean you have an issue with short cycling. This can be due to the thermostat needing to be recalibrated or replaced, or the heat exchanger in the system itself may be overheating. Have a technician come out to see what's going on if you have an issue with short cycling.

Maintenance for the system

Maintenance of your system has a lot to do with cleaning it as far as you are concerned. However, another part of maintenance will be a yearly visit from a technician to service the system, and this should happen at the start of the season, before you begin running the system.

As far as cleaning goes, there are different elements to pay attention to. The one you likely know about already is the air filter, which needs to be cleaned regularly (or replaced, if you have gone with disposable filters).

However, you also want to have the ducts professionally cleaned when you notice they need it. More dust in the house, a flare-up of allergies, and smells coming from the ducts are some signs the ducts need cleaning. Otherwise, you should have them cleaned every few years to get rid of the dust and dirt that you know will be in them by this time.

Have the other components cleaned annually by a technician when they do their annual servicing. The technician will also clean the soot from the combustion chamber, the blower, and the housing. 

Call a heating maintenance service to learn more.