Tips for Taking Care of Your Home Furnace

You want to know you can count on your furnace to keep your family comfortable. However, since you don't use your furnace year round, you may not know you have a problem until it comes time to use your furnace. When you go to use it and find there's something wrong with it, you can get caught in an uncomfortable predicament. You can also save on your heating expenses by making sure you are properly maintaining your furnace. Follow the tips below at the beginning of the season so you know you can expect a comfortable winter.

The first thing you want to do is to shut off the power to the furnace for safety purposes. Once you are sure there isn't any power going to the furnace then you can move on to maintenance the furnace.

  • You want to use a wire brush to clean out the combustion chamber. This is the area where a lot of soot will build-up and you want to remove as much of it as possible.
  • Vacuum up the leftover dirt and debris with the hose of your vacuum or use a hand held broom and small dustpan to sweep it up.
  • Remove the covers from the registers in your house and clean them off. Then, use a vacuum hose to clean out dirt and dust. Put the register covers back in place.
  • Check your exhaust flute for small holes. If you find some then you can use foil tape to patch them. If you notice the flute is corroded, then you should have it replaced for safety purposes.
  • You also need to be sure you change the filter at least annually. If you don't then dirty air will be blown into your house and your furnace will be working harder than it needs to which will increase your heating expenses and put more wear and tear on the unit.
  • Turn the power back on and turn the furnace on. Make sure it is working correctly and blowing out hot air. If it doesn't then you should make sure to check the thermostat, followed by the pilot light.

If you are having troubles with your furnace or you notice inconsistencies then you want to call a furnace repair company out right away. If you don't have the problems taken care of, they will only get worse and you will more than likely find yourself without any heat sooner than later.


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