5 Tips for Maintaining Your Furnace

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As winter approaches, many of us reach for the thermostat and crank the heat. However, for your furnace to work properly, you need to keep it maintained. If you ignore it for years and years at a time, don’t be shocked when it doesn’t work for you or isn’t operating as it should.

With that in mind, this blog post is going to go over some great tips and ideas for maintaining your furnace and keeping it in great shape.

Call in a Professional

The first tip is to make sure you are calling in the Ottawa furnace repair professional to test and inspect your furnace. They will be able to look closely at each component and make sure it is working as it should, and there are no issues developing.

Make sure to reach out to companies that not only specialize in a quality Furnace Tune-Up, but are reputable and trustworthy. As for how often you should call in a pro to check out your furnace, we recommend doing it at least once a year, so you can ensure it is always working as it should.

Change Out the Filter

As for something you can do on your own, you need to make sure to change out the filter on your furnace. These exist to keep dirt, dust, and various other types of debris out of the system, to keep it working well for as long as possible.

But over time, this filter will become clogged up, and impact the performance of your furnace, forcing it to work harder than it should. Simply changing the filter or cleaning it out once in a while should suffice. This is generally once every couple months, but may need to be done more frequently depending on the type of filter you have, and whether you have pets or children.

Remember the Ducts

While the furnace is an important part of your heating system, it isn’t the only thing worth paying attention to. You also need to remember your ducts. These help transport the hot air that your furnace produces, and guides it throughout your home. If the ducts have issues, your entire system will have issues.

In particular, you need to make an effort to clean your ducts. If they are full of dust and debris, this can find its way into your home, and even block some of the airflow. Also, make sure there are no cracks, leaks, or gaps in your ducts, that could let out the hot air your furnace produces.

Install a Programmable Thermostat

Next, it is a good idea to invest in a programmable thermostat. This allows you to essentially automate your home heating, as you can select the heating schedule (and temperature) that works for you.

Trying to manage your temperature manually can be problematic, especially if you forget to turn the furnace off. WIth a programmable thermostat, there is no danger of accidentally overworking your furnace, and it is also much more convenient. Many are even quite affordable, and getting them installed and set up is relatively simple.

Keep Vents and Registers Clear

Another way to keep your furnace in great shape is to make sure you keep all vents and registers clear. If these are blocked, they can limit the amount of hot air that can come through the vents, and your heating efforts will not be very efficient. You should check all vents and make sure there is no furniture, piles of clothing, or other items blocking them, even partially.

By keeping these tips in mind, you can be sure that your furnace is always properly maintained and in good shape.