As the winter approaches, you’ve probably heard that you need to schedule annual maintenance with an HVAC technician. While this may seem like something a tech says to upsell you, annual furnace maintenance actually does provide lots of benefits.
Investing in annual furnace maintenance can:
- Prolong the life of your system
- Reduce energy bills
- Increase the comfort of your home
- Reduce potential safety hazards
- Help maintain your warranty
We’ll look at each of these benefits in more detail, so you can determine whether annual furnace maintenance is worth your investment. But first, let’s look at what a technician should be evaluating when they perform annual furnace maintenance.
What’s included in furnace maintenance
According to EnergyStar.com, at the very minimum, during a quality heating maintenance check-up, a technician should:
- Check thermostat systems
- Tighten electrical connections
- Lubricate moving parts
- Check and inspect the condensate drain
- Check the controls of the system
- Check all gas (or oil) connections, gas pressure, burner combustion, and heat exchanger
If you’re looking at hiring an HVAC technician for a maintenance check-up and they aren’t offering what’s listed above, our advice would be to find another company or tech. There is no use investing in maintenance if a tech isn’t going to check your system thoroughly.
Now that we’ve discussed what you should look for in a furnace maintenance plan, let’s look at the benefits of investing in maintenance.
Benefit #1: Prolongs the life of your system
On average, furnaces last anywhere from 10-18 years. BUT, furnaces will only last this long if they are properly (and regularly) maintained.
Why?
Like a car, a furnace relies on many parts to run efficiently.
Over time, these parts become dirty and worn out or may break down completely. When one part isn’t working as well as it should, it can affect the performance of your whole system and can cause other parts of your furnace (or your entire system) to wear out faster than it should.
Imagine if you drove your car regularly and never got the oil changed or replaced the tires. Your car wouldn’t last nearly as long as it was intended to. Your furnace works the same way.
However, when you invest in regular maintenance, a technician is regularly checking these parts and will catch a damaged or worn-out part before it becomes an issue for your whole system. Ultimately this prolongs the life of your system.
Benefit #2: Reduces energy bills
The more efficiently your furnace runs, the less expensive your energy bills will be.
For example, if your air filter is clogged or blocked, your system will struggle to draw in enough air, and your furnace will have to run longer to heat your home. Ultimately, if your furnace has to run longer, your heating bills will increase.
Example of a clean air filter (left) next to a dirty air filter (right)
However, when you invest in furnace maintenance, a technician will check things like your air filter and replace it if it’s dirty, so your energy bills don’t spike during the heating season.
Benefit #3: Increases the comfort of your home
As we mentioned above, if your furnace is maintained frequently, it will run more efficiently. The more efficiently a furnace runs, the more comfortable your home will be. What do we mean by that?
Well, when a furnace is running efficiently, it will be able to heat your home more quickly and effectively than if it’s struggling. When a furnace isn’t running efficiently, it will struggle to produce the amount of heat you need, typically resulting in hot/cold spots throughout your home.
Benefit #4: Reduces potential safety hazards
Though “dangerous” incidents with furnaces are rare, they can happen, especially when a furnace is old or worn out.
Having a professional regularly check your furnace for potential issues helps mitigate safety hazards, and may help to find a potential problem before it becomes a safety hazard for you and your family.
Benefit #5: Helps maintain your warranty
To maintain your warranty, most manufacturers require that you have your furnace maintained annually by a licensed professional.
This means that if you fail to have your yearly maintenance visit, your furnace warranty will be void. And if your furnace maintenance is void, it means any future repairs will be 100% out-of-pocket expenses.
Ready to prolong the life of your system with furnace maintenance? Hire the best team in NJ: Air Experts!
If you’re considering furnace maintenance, we’re the team to call. We have over 25 years of experience serving NJ homeowners, so if you want to hire a team you can trust, hire us.
- During our furnace maintenance visits, one of our technicians will:
- Inspect gas lines and connections at the furnace for leaks
- Check high limit control
- Check burner ignition system, flame sensor, and assembly
- Inspect gas burners
- Check gas pressure
- Check temperature rise across heat exchanger for overheating
- Inspect heat exchanger for sooting, corrosion, cracks and deformities
- Inspect gas valve for corrosion, leaks, restriction of gas flow and abnormal noise
- Inspect furnace wiring assembly for loose connections
- And much more