Furnace Preventive Maintenance Is Necessary Each Fall: Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Wait

Doctors recommend regular checkups for us as a way to detect and treat health problems before they get worse. Preventive maintenance for your furnace can stem problems in your heating system. A  preventive maintenance call by a service technician also gets your heating system in shape for whatever Old Man Winter may throw its way.

Among the tasks your HVAC technician will cover during a fall maintenance call:

  • Your flue should be checked for the proper draw so that gases escape outside and don’t leak into your home.
  • Oil furnaces have oil filters to clean the gunk out before it reaches your burner. If filters clog up, the oil flow can stop, and you have no heat. Your technician should change the oil filter.
  • The proper mixture of gas and oxygen allows your furnace to work at maximum efficiency. Your technician will make sure you have a balanced mixture for proper combustion.
  • The furnace combustion chamber can get clogged with soot, sometimes leading to corrosion and a crack or hole appearing in the chamber. This can be a danger. Your technician will correct this situation, if necessary.
  • The fan and blades will be oiled, cleaned and tightened if necessary. This facilitates proper airflow and operation.
  • Burners and valves can become clogged. Your technician will check for clogs, clean them our and make sure your fuel supply is properly regulated and flowing.

Preventive maintenance can pay for itself by preventing the need for major repairs, or, worse, total midwinter breakdowns necessitating a whole new system. Regular service also helps to extend the life of your heating equipment and keeps utility bills lower by improving your system’s efficiency.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).   For more information about preventive maintenance and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

T.F. O’Brien services the Long Island, New York area.  Visit our website to see our special offers to get started today!