With cooler weather now is the time to think about getting your furnace ready for the coldest parts of winter by getting your Fall furnace check done by a professional. The one thing protecting you in the dead of the winter — your home furnace, boiler or heat pump — is important enough to make sure it’s inspected and maintained correctly. Furnaces that aren’t maintained will underperform, wear out quickly, just shut down or even possibly release dangerous carbon monoxide into your home.
*Tax not included. Only 1-inch filters are included. Heat pumps and boilers incur additional charges.
Gas furnaces operate when you turn your thermostat to send an electric signal to your furnace to start burning fuel. Mixing air and gas and igniting a flame heats up a combustion chamber. Once that’s warm enough, fresh, filtered air blows across in the heat exchanger to send hot air into your ducts and throughout your house. Dangerous fumes, including carbon monoxide, from the combustion chamber are vented out a chimney or flue.
Fall furnace maintenance is something you should leave to a professional. Accidentally moving burners or the pilot light can create a gas buildup when the furnace is off and create a flash fire when the furnace is turned on. A pilot light tip that has been been tampered with can become a flame thrower inside your furnace. There aren’t any shortcuts to a properly inspected furnace, so please make sure a professional checks everything meticulously.
If you notice any of the following, call your Eyman professional today:
1. Odd noises, rattling, rumbling or squealing. These types of noises aren’t uncommon on boilers, but should be cause for alarm in forced air heating systems. You should only hear the sound of the blower. You might have a component about to fail, an ignition problem or loose belt.
2. Chronic headaches, allergies or flu-like symptoms. Even if your carbon monoxide alarm isn’t sounding, combustion gases could be leaking from the combustion chamber or your chimney or exhaust flue.
3. Soot deposits. If combustion isn’t completing, a fine black powder might start collecting. This might be a sign your burners need adjusting or the heat exchanger is cracked.
4. Irregular row of flames. If the flames on your burner are uneven or lean toward one side of the furnace, you burners might require cleaning or there might be a crack in your heat exchange. Burner flames in a gas furnace should be about even across the row.
5. Short cycling. If your thermostat is out of adjustment or the heat exchange is cracked, the furnace could be short cycling — shutting off after running for only short periods.
6. Yellow or flickering burner flames. This is a sign that the gas combination in your furnace needs fixing and could indicate carbon monoxide.
7. Rust on flue pipes or vent pipes. Another sign that carbon monoxide is not being vented correctly.
8. Sky high gas bills. Yes, you’ve seen your utility bill rise with all the sewer funding, but if you’re seeing a much higher gas usage compared to last year, better check your furnace.
Like vehicles, furnaces have the most problems in the last 2 years of their life cycle. If you need to have multiple service calls within a 2-year time frame, it might be time to consider a new furnace.