You rely on your home furnace to keep you safe and comfortable through the chilliest nights of the year. For this reason, it’s essential to make sure it’s ready for winter before cold weather hits. Follow these steps to make sure your furnace is cleaned, maintained, and ready to go.

How to Maintain Your Home Furnace

1. Start Early

As soon as your air conditioner is off for the season, you need to start the preparation process for your furnace. There is less transition time than you might imagine, and it’s better to get it done early than to be stuck with your furnace out of order.

2. Call a Professional

While there’s a lot you can do on your own, some tasks — like inspecting your home furnace for damage, adjusting components to run more smoothly, and cleaning the burners — are better left to a professional. Schedule a visit from a local HVAC or natural gas company.

3. Change the Filter

Your furnace pumps huge quantities of air through its system each day, and over time, that means a lot of impurities being caught. Take out the filter and hold it up to the light. If you can’t see any light through it, it’s clogged and needs cleaning or replacement to avoid lowering air quality and putting extra strain on your fan.

4. Check the Registers

The registers are the vents, which blow warm air into various rooms of your home. Check each one to make sure it’s clean, open, and not blocked by your furniture or belongings. Especially watch out for plastic items that may have fallen into the registers, as the hot air can melt them.

5. Set Your Thermostat

Finally, it’s time to turn the system on. Set your thermostat to a temperature about ten degrees lower than your target temperature in summer — this will help cut heating costs while keeping the environment comfortable. Once the thermostat is set, pay attention to ensure the furnace comes on as it should, effectively warms the house, and doesn’t make any strange noises.

 

For home furnace inspection and repairs to prepare for winter, choose Best Oil in Waterbury, CT. Serving New Haven County since 1936, they offer prompt, high-quality service in addition to oil and propane delivery service. To schedule a visit, call (203) 574-4050 or get in touch online.