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Preparing Your Furnace For Cold Weather

Oct 21, 2019

Furnace for Cold Weather — Boise, ID — Northwest Heating & Air Conditioning Inc

Winter is approaching and that means the time has come to fire up your furnace. However, you shouldn't just turn on your furnace for full-time use without making sure that it is in good shape. Failure to take precautions can have a serious impact on your health. Read on to learn some of the things you should do before you start running your furnace for the winter.

Turn Up Your Thermostat

At the beginning of the cold season, briefly turn up your thermostat in order to check whether or not the thermostat and furnace are still connected and working well. If you have a gas furnace, then this is also a good time to see if the pilot light is working and whether or not the flame is a healthy blue color.

If you don't have a thermostat, then you might want to manually turn on your furnace for a minute to see if it's working correctly.

Have an Inspection

Before you turn on your furnace full-time, have a professional come to your home and examine your furnace for gas leaks as well as other maintenance issues. He or she will make recommendations and point out problems spots in your system.

Change Your Filters

The beginning of the cold season is an excellent time to change the furnace and air duct filters. Ideally, you should have been changing the filter throughout the year as part of normal maintenance. If you have an air duct system, this may mean changing multiple filters along the line.

Clean the Air Ducts

Fall is a great time to have your air ducts clean and remove potentially hazardous debris and dust that can make you sick as well as block the heat. While you can clean your ducts yourself, a professional is more likely to have tools that make the job easier and faster. Certain types of gas furnaces need the water condensation drainage tube checked as well.

Check Your Registers

If your house has air ducts, then check each of your registers (the vents in the floor) to ensure that they are not blocked. Do not put furniture or rugs over the vents because doing so can cause problems for your system, not to mention your personal property.

Most rooms have both a vent and a return system to balance the cold and warm air flow and pressure. Blocking a vent, but not the return can actually make your whole home cooler. Plus, blocking the vent changes the air pressure and moisture percentage in the ducts and could cause damage.

Upgrade Your System

If your furnace is cracked or severely damaged, or more than a couple decades old, then you might want to consider buying a new furnace. Cracked heat exchangers can put you and your family at risk for carbon dioxide poisoning. This part is both expensive and time consuming to replace, so a new furnace is often recommended in this case.

Most modern furnaces are more efficient and more cost effective than fixing the old system. You should definitely replace your furnace if you find that it is struggling to keep your home warm even with the best maintenance, or if it is spewing out black smoke and making weird, loud noises.

Check and have the system repaired before the weather turns cold enough for you to actually need the heat all the time. Even if you don't see anything wrong with your furnace, you should still have it examined by a professional before each cold weather season.

Northwest Heating & Air Conditioning Inc has experienced technicians who can come out and look at your furnace to make sure that it’s safe and ready to go. We can even recommend a replacement if your furnace is on its last legs. Visit our website or call us to set up a convenient appointment.

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