It’s that time of year again–the time where we encourage, even insist, that our customers have their heating systems maintained. Why? Well for starters, maintenance will help your heater last longer! During maintenance, we inspect, clean, and adjust the components that need it. This all reduces wear and tear, which ultimately helps your heating system last the 10-15 years it’s meant to.
But we don’t expect you to take this as face value. We want you to understand what actually happens during heating maintenance, so you can be more confident in the benefits it provides. Read on to learn more!
Why Do You Need This Service?
Professional annual heating maintenance is essential to making sure that your heating system stands the test of time, and that it provides you with the performance you expect and that you deserve. As your furnace or heat pump works hard to keep you and your household warm and comfy through the wintertime, it’s going to accumulate some typical wear and tear. This is inevitable, but it doesn’t have to be a detriment to your system. This said, allowing that wear and tear to go unchecked for too long will definitely lead to some potentially serious equipment problems later on.
Your heater simply cannot function as effectively and efficiently as possible if it’s not well-maintained, and you’ll find yourself paying more than you should have to in order to heat your home. The system also won’t work as reliably, and will require more frequent repairs–while professional maintenance can help you avoid up to 85% of those repair needs.
Okay, So What Actually Happens During Maintenance?
There is quite a lot that goes on during your heating maintenance appointment. One of the things we’ll do is change your air filter, but this is actually something you should be doing on your own every 1-3 months depending on the type of filter and the level of contaminants in your home.
Other things we’ll do during your heating maintenance appointment include:
- Lubricating all the moving parts.
- Testing components like the system controls and thermostat to ensure proper function.
- Tightening all electrical connections.
- Checking voltage and amperage for proper levels.
- Checking the condensate drain pan and assembly, and cleaning it if needed.
- Cleaning and adjusting automatic controls and cleaning burners.
- Adjusting combustion for optimum fuel efficiency.
- Testing for combustion leaks and testing safety shutoff response.
- Checking the blower belt for wear, tension, and alignment.
- Checking the flue for satisfactory operation.
Your household safety depends on routing professional maintenance just as much as your comfort and budget do! All gas and/or oil connections for your heating system will need to be closely inspected, and your burners and heating elements will be inspected too, and cleaned as necessary. All of this results in not only great heating performance, but safe heating performance!
Maintenance is essential for all HVAC systems to function as reliably, safely, and efficiently as possible. So once you have your heating maintenance done, be sure to get an AC tune-up on your schedule for next spring!
Contact Sound Heating and Air Conditioning Inc. for quality Tacoma, WA furnace services!