Now that summer is over and fall is here, temperatures outside may be starting to get chilly if you live somewhere that experiences cold winters. If you do, you know just how much your family depends on your home’s heating system for warmth and comfort during the fall and winter months.
That’s why it’s critical to schedule annual maintenance for your heating system now — before the temperatures get even colder. Routine maintenance can help prevent an untimely and/or expensive system breakdown, and could also help keep your system running efficiently throughout the heating season.
Advantages of scheduling annual furnace maintenance
While a yearly tune-up could help keep your family warm and cozy when the weather outside gets cold, there are also several other advantages to scheduling annual maintenance.
Safety
The trained and experienced technician who comes to your home for your maintenance appointment will ensure that your heating system is operating safely. This is especially important if your system runs on natural gas. The technician will verify there aren’t any dangerous natural gas or carbon monoxide (CO) leaks, and this will help you rest assured that the unit will run safely throughout the heating season.
Likewise, if you have a heating system that runs on electrical power, the technician will check all wiring to the unit to confirm that there aren’t any damaged areas that could cause a fire to ignite. If there are, he or she will recommend the best course of action to get the issue(s) taken care of.
Efficiency
The technician will also clean and inspect vital working components inside your heating system to ensure they are working as they should. A clean-running heater is more likely to be a safe and efficient one. If there are parts that are worn out, or aren’t working as well as they could, the technician will recommend replacing or repairing them so that your furnace will run efficiently.
When your heating system is operating as well as it can, your energy bills during the winter months may be lower. This is often a homeowner’s largest utility expense from month-to-month during the heating season.
Longer life
Additionally, yearly tune-ups could help keep your home’s heating system running beyond its anticipated lifespan, meaning you may not need to start worrying so soon about setting aside money for a replacement unit. This can be great news for the budget-conscious family this heating season.
Fewer repairs
Yearly maintenance on your furnace may also decrease the number of breakdowns the unit experiences during its lifespan. When you don’t take proper care of your heating system, its internal parts can become dirty with dust and other debris. This could make the components work harder in order to keep your furnace running, leading to premature wear and tear on the parts. The potential resulting breakdowns could be time-consuming and expensive to have fixed. Of course, they can also cause your home to be cold and uncomfortable.
Additional maintenance tips
Along with scheduling annual maintenance for your heating system, be sure to change your air filter regularly. If you aren’t sure how often to change the filter, the general rule is to change it on a monthly basis. Your air filter is responsible for trapping dirt, dust, pollutants, and other airborne materials, and keeping them from passing through the vents in your home. But if you don’t change the filter regularly, it gets more difficult for air from your heater to pass through it. This can cause serious problems for your furnace and could cause your home to not feel as warm as it should.
Need to find a trusted heating maintenance provider?
Pivotal Home Solutions offers an affordable Heating Maintenance Plan. When you’re enrolled in the plan, you’re entitled to an annual inspection and cleaning of your home’s heating system. Want more information? Reach out to us via chat by clicking the Click to Chat tab on the right side of the page. Our friendly customer service representatives will be happy to assist you!