Keeping your heating system working effectively is critical for maintaining a warm, comfortable indoor environment throughout the winter. It’s also essential for ensuring you don’t have to pay more to heat your house than you should. The best way to make sure that your home’s heating system continues performing efficiently and effectively all winter long is to perform a full check at the start of the winter and then continue monitoring the system’s performance throughout the following months.
Inspect Your HVAC Air Filter Monthly
Most HVAC manufacturers and professionals recommend changing or washing the air filter in an HVAC system every 90 days. However, just doing this once every three months isn’t always sufficient. That’s because the type of filter you use and how much your HVAC system runs every day can have a major impact on how dirty the filter gets and how long it takes before it starts getting clogged. This is why it’s a good idea to be proactive and inspect the filter monthly to see how dirty it is.
If you use disposable pleated filters, you can easily tell how dirty the filter is by holding it near an overhead light. If you can barely see light through the filter or can’t see the light at all, many of the pores in the pleated filter media are clogged. As such, you should toss that filter out and put a new one in. Another sure sign that the filter is too dirty and is negatively impacting your HVAC system’s performance is if it’s overly dark or black. One other thing to watch for is weaker than normal airflow coming from your vents. Weak airflow is generally a sign that either the system’s filter is clogged or the blower isn’t circulating air as effectively as it normally should.
Replace the Batteries in Your Thermostat
While hard-wired thermostats are generally considered more reliable because they receive power directly from the HVAC system, a substantial percentage of homes instead have a battery-powered thermostat. This is primarily because battery-powered thermostats are less expensive. If you have a thermostat that uses batteries, plan to replace the batteries once a year.
Even though the thermostat should display a notification letting you know when the battery power is low, may not appear until the batteries are almost completely dead. That means your thermostat could suddenly stop working due to drained batteries, which means it will no longer be able to operate your HVAC system. That’s why it’s a good idea to replace the batteries at the start of each year since the new batteries should ensure your thermostat works for the rest of the year with no issues. If you don’t take this step and the batteries fail when you’re asleep or at work, your house temperature may drop dangerously before you finally realize the thermostat isn’t working and your heating isn’t running.
Check That Your Thermostat Is Programmed Correctly
Not programming your thermostat so the temperature sets back at certain times is a major waste of energy. Keeping it constantly set at the same temperature also results in excess wear and tear on your heating system over the winter. While you can manually turn the temperature down or up at different times, such as before leaving for work and when you get back home, programming your thermostat so that it does this on its own is a better option. After programming it the first time, you won’t have to worry about it for the rest of the winter. If you keep your heater turned down by 5 degrees or so overnight and when you’re at work, you could easily reduce your heating costs by 10% or more. The reduced wear and tear you get by setting the temperature back at these times also lessens the chance of your heating system needing repairs or suddenly breaking down over the winter.
Make Sure Your HVAC System Is Properly Maintained
The single most important thing to do at the start of each winter is to hire a certified HVAC company to maintain your heating system. Part of a heating maintenance or tune-up service is inspecting the entire system to make sure there aren’t any malfunctioning or worn-out components and that the system works safely. A safety inspection is especially crucial if you have a gas furnace since the technician will check that the safety sensors and switches work properly. They’ll also make sure the combustion fumes are being properly vented outside and that the heat exchanger isn’t cracked. Both of these tasks are essential for ensuring carbon monoxide can’t escape and leak out into your ductwork or the area around your furnace.
Along with performing the full inspection and checking and testing all the furnace’s components, the technician will clean the burners, the flame sensor and the blower. Cleaning the burners helps improve the furnace’s performance. Dirty burners can cause incomplete combustion, resulting in the flames not producing nearly as much heat and the furnace heating more slowly. The other concern is that carbon monoxide often gets produced when natural gas doesn’t fully combust. Cleaning the flame sensor is crucial for ensuring the furnace always runs when it should and doesn’t have issues where it sometimes shuts off before it has completed a full heating cycle. If the sensor isn’t cleaned, it may occasionally not detect that the furnace is lit. Whenever that happens, gas will immediately stop flowing to the burners and the furnace will shut off. Cleaning the blower also makes a major difference in the heating system’s performance as the blower can’t circulate air effectively if it’s clogged with dust.
After performing all of these other tasks, the technician will then switch the thermostat to heating mode and adjust the temperature to where the furnace should turn on. This allows them to first check that the thermostat is properly calibrated and sensing the temperature in the house correctly. Once the furnace is running and putting out hot air, they’ll then measure the temperature of the air coming out of a vent.
All gas furnaces have a specific temperature rise they should achieve when working properly. Temperature rise refers to the difference between the current temperature in the house and the air the furnace is putting out. The exact temperature rise a furnace should achieve varies from one model to the next. For instance, some furnaces produce a temperature rise between 30-60 degrees while others produce a rise between 50-80 degrees, 40-70 degrees, etc. The data plate on a furnace lists what temperature rise it should achieve.
Checking that the temperature rise is within the correct range allows the technician to first ensure the furnace is heating as effectively as it should. Secondly, it enables them to determine if the furnace is producing too much heat and is at risk of frequently overheating and shutting down. If the temperature rise isn’t within the correct range, they can perform further diagnostic assessments to determine what issue the furnace has and what it will take to get it working properly again. The technician will then usually be able to fix the issue on the spot so that you don’t have to pay for an additional service call.
With 30 years of experience, Joyce Cooling & Heating Inc. is the best choice when you need any residential or light commercial HVAC services in Nashua, Canterbury or the surrounding areas. We’re a family-owned company dedicated to offering comprehensive heating, cooling and indoor air solutions, and you can count on us when you need maintenance, repairs or a new heating system installation. If you want to schedule a tune-up or need any assistance with your heating this winter, contact us today.
