Furnace Clean and Service or Safety Check

I get this question all the time. Do I need to service my furnace? or My furnace is only x number of years old, do I need to get it cleaned yet?

The answers are yes, yes and yes!! You should have your furnace clean and inspected at the start of every heating season. EPA recommends it for safety reasons and the furnace manufactures' require it to maintain your warranty.

There are numerous reasons for this:

• Safety - While servicing your furnace lengthen its life, it could lengthen your life as well. There are many dangerous gases in and around your furnace. It is important that everything is operating properly to prevent dangerous health risks up to and including your death.
  • Natural Gas/Propane - The fuel of life for your gas furnace. This one is obvious and the gas company adds that obnoxious smell to it so your nose can detect it but at low levels you may not be able to smell it where our detectors can.
  • Carbon Monoxide (CO)- The silent killer. It is odorless and colorless. You can and should buy a CO detector for your protection but these only detect higher levels (~25ppm-50ppm) before CO becomes an immediate threat to your health. They do not detect low levels which can cause health problems as well. Our combustion analyzer can detect down to 1ppm. Hot 'n' Cold has a separate carbon monoxide page with a lot more details on the health dangers of CO. We can test the levels of carbon monoxide given off by your furnace while it is burning to see if they are within manufactures specifications and make sure it is not leaking into your living spaces or ducts.
  • Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - global warming and that whole debate that I won't get into but a clean furnace is a more efficient furnace so you will use less fuel and therefore give off less CO2.
  • Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen oxides in small amounts.
• Efficiency - A more efficient running furnace will save you money on your heating bills
  • Burner flame will burn more efficiently using less gas to heat your home and making your utility bills lower
  • Fan doesn't have to work as hard to move the same amount of air and will last longer and use less electricity
  • We will also give the thermostat a thorough cleaning. A dirty thermostat is not an accurate thermostat or a reliable one.
• Life Expectancy - A clean furnace will last longer.
  • Less dust and debris around the electronics of the circuit boards mean they heat up less and will last longer, less chance of the board shorting out and requiring replacement. Most furnaces now a days have a circuit board in it much like a computer and are susceptible to same problems of heat and dust. Heat reduces the life of electronic components. Too much Dust can cause the board components to short out. Both problems can be reduced by proper cleaning.
  • Fan doesn't have to work as hard to move the same amount of air and will last longer and use less electricity