Ok it’s spring where I’m at and and while the kids are waiting for school to let out and we’re shedding the heavy coats of winter, it’s a GREAT time to start thinking about tuning up your furnace. Why now? Well since it’s warm having your heat off for a day won’t freeze you out and many heating engineers are right now beginning to get busy with the summer heat on the way. So getting good inspection and cleaning will not be an emergency later on.
Regardless of your heat source your homes heating health makes a big difference in your family’s health, comfort and finacial standing. A poorly working furnace is just throwing money away.
A quick inspection and cleaning can run about $100-$200 depending on the type of heat you have. My recommendation is to have your furnace cleaned about once a year. This will keep the furnace in tip top shape and not only keep it efficient but also last a LOT longer. An ignored furnace can result in added costs, carbon monoxide poisoning or even fire.
Unfortunately I found out that even with good service a furnace can have problems. A few years ago I had a furnace clog and put out a dangerous amount of carbon monoxide into my home. I did have carbon monoxide detectors and my family got out safe and sound. There was a little smoke damage but all in all we were OK. What had happened is that the furnace was located near a clothes drier, among several furry pets, and someone had been using a table saw next to it. So the lint, pet fur and sawdust got sucked into the furnace and caused the problem. The solution was to have the furnace pull fresh air from the outside (a couple hundred dollar modification) but since then the cleanings have been a LOT easier.
Outside of the safety issues servicing a furnace improves it’s efficiency greatly. A few areas to have checked at least once a year are the filters, ducts, chimney, ignition system, pumps. A professional service rep from a local heating company can probably do the job in an afternoon and give you a quote over the phone.
While the cost might seem a bit much in the long run you can save with a properly working heater and in addition it will last years longer than a neglected heat source.