It’s that time of year again to schedule your furnace maintenance. This annual maintenance is important to protect the lifespan of your system.  And regular maintenance is a lot less costly than repairing or replacing your furnace!

What’s involved in maintenance?

After the power and fuel supplies are shut off, cleaning the combustion chamber comes next in the maintenance process.

The combustion chamber is where the fuel mixes with the air and is ignited to generate the heat. And, this is also where you see a build-up of soot. The soot will be scraped up and then vacuumed. Then the entire chamber will be inspected for holes before replacing the cover.

The flue pipe gets a good inspection for holes as well as this is where carbon monoxide leaks are likely to occur. Small leaks can be patched but corroded pipes need to be replaced.

Then comes the oil filter, if applicable with your system, gets replaced.

The burner is adjusted and the system is also tested for efficiency. A combustion analyzer is set up which calculates efficiency by measuring the gases in the exhaust pipes. The flame is checked along with the igniter to ensure that there is stable and complete combustion.

The floor vents.

This is also a great time to clean out those floor vents. These vents are magnets for pet hair, dust, and any other debris that might find their way into these airways for your heat. All of these things will reduce the efficiency which then causes you to crank up the thermostat in order to achieve a comfortable temperature.

Simply remove the floor registers and vacuum out the dust and pet hair. Anything larger, like small child or pet toys, will have to be removed out by hand.

Now, after the annual maintenance done and have cleaned out the vents, you’ll be breathing a little easier as the weather gets cooler!