Typical Furnace Maintenance Recommendations

Furnace maintenance is extremely important to the life of your furnace; proper cleaning and repair will ensure that your furnace works its best and lasts as long as you own your home. Here are some tips to help you keep your furnace in good running order so that you don’t have to replace before its time.

Furnace Care and Maintenance
Start by considering your furnace filters – do they need changing or replacing? Furnace filters catch all the dust, debris and hair that run through your ducts and help to purify the heat that comes out of your vents. When the filter gets clogged, your furnace stops running as well and exerts more energy than necessary. In extreme cases, the blower may be affected, triggering the need for costly repairs. Replace your disposable filters as the first part of heating maintenance.

Schedule a tune-up yearly by a licensed HVAC repair specialist to keep your furnace in good running order. It’s a good idea to schedule this in early fall, before you have to turn on your furnace, to give you time to schedule any furnace repairs that need to be done. A technician will check your flues, ducts and temperature settings, examine your heat exchanger for cracks or other damage, and double-check all safety mechanisms to ensure proper furnace efficiency. HVAC maintenance should take place regularly if you want to avoid emergency furnace repairs.

Some HVAC technicians will offer furnace maintenance packages. It may be a good idea to look into these if you don’t feel up to maintaining your furnace yourself. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, you can keep your furnace running efficiently by checking your owner’s manual regularly. Tasks you can do yourself include checking to see if the blower motor needs to be lubricated, replacing frayed belts, checking for visible cracks or blockages, and more.

Proper furnace maintenance allows you to keep your furnace running longer and put off any expensive repairs. Always make sure to check your furnace annually for any of the problems mentioned above and keep your equipment in good running order.

How to Practice Safe Furnace Cleaning

When you are cleaning your furnace, three things should be cleaned:

• The filter system
• The blower
• The motor

Replace your furnace filter at the beginning of the heating season to keep your home cleaner and to keep dirt and debris from flying into your blower and ruining it. Check the filter by holding it up to the light. You’ll be able to see if it’s clogged just by looking at it. If it’s disposable, replace it. If it’s a permanent filter, follow the instructions on the side of your furnace to learn how to clean it.

Clean your blower by removing the panel that covers the filter to gain access to the blower or the panel on the front of the furnace. Slide out the fan unit to gain access to the blower and clean it out. If you are not comfortable doing this, hire a certified HVAC specialist to clean all three parts of your furnace for you. HVAC specialists have a complete range of experience with gas furnace cleaning, oil furnace cleaning, and electric furnace cleaning. It is a good idea to get your furnace serviced by a professional even if you are willing to clean it yourself.

Troubleshooting a Gas Furnace

By Bob Formisano, About.com Guide

The Conventional Gas Furnace
The conventional gas furnace (up to 89% AFUE) is an appliance looking like a large box that does the following:

• takes in cold air,
• cleans it with an air filter,
• heats it up with a gas burner using a steel heat exchanger,
• distributes the warm air with a blower motor through your home's ductwork

The heated air then cools down in your home's various rooms and returns to the furnace through return air grills and ductwork.The cold returning air enters back through the air filter into the furnace to complete another heating loop.
Sometimes there is a humidifier mounted on the furnace or the return air ductwork.
Furnaces come in different efficiencies measured in AFUE.
Once in a while things don't work quite right and you need to troubleshoot a gas furnace repair or relight a standing pilot if it has one. Conventional furnaces may have electronic ignitions which need special troubleshooting.

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