Furnace Maintenance to get you Ready for Winter!
Its that time of year again... we wake up cold in the morning and need to switch from air conditioning to HEAT on our wonderfully dormant Gas Furnace! I don't know about the rrest of you, but if I have done nothing to it in months... this is usually when my fingers are crossed!
Heating Season Furnace Maintenance
While there are quite a few things you may not be qualified or equipped to check on your own, there are some very basic things you can do to make sure your Gas Furnace will fire off on that first cold fall morning! I suggest you set yourself a few hours this coming weekend, throw on some work clothes, and get ready for your own system inspection!
Like any inspection, you really just want to take in the overall look of your system as you approach it. If you see rusted out panels, or doors that are hanging off, this is a sure first sign of bad maintenance!
The second thing you want to look at is the furnace venting, or flue, system. Grab it with your hand and "gently" try to jiggle it a bit from side to side. All you are doing here is checking to make sure it is securely fastened and sealed at the exhaust outlet on your furnace. If it moves around alot... take a note of it, and move on! You may need to get an experienced HVAC company out to make some repairs!
Warning: You DON'T want to mess with a leaky flue vent! Carbon monoxide is an invisible gas that will sneak up you or your family while you are sleeping, and likely, keep you sleeping! If you have a gas furnace in your home, do yourself a favor and either get a Carbon Monoxide Detector, or test and replace the battery in your existing unit!
Checking your Heat Exchanger
While physical and complete inspection is too hard on someone who does not know what they are looking for, a basic visual checkup is easy enough! If you have ever owned a gas grill, you recall how the burner ribbon would rot out... it would slowly decompose around the endges of where the stamping took place right? The basic idea is the same for your furnace heat exchanger!
Remove the side panel of your unit and just have a quick look at the exchanger itself. It is a very large tubular or ribbonlike metal component inside the furnace, that heats up and transfers that heat when air is forced across it. If you see even the smallest of pinholes, you MUST call out a qualified service company for further testing and possible repair! A leaky heat exchanger is nothing to mess with folks... and many local gas utility companies will require service technicians to shut off your gas, if they find one and you are unwilling to have it repaired or replaced!
You can read this page for further info on heat exchanger inspection, it even has pictures!
Throughout this week, I will cover more items you can check on your own for furnace maintenance!
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It is very important to have carbon monoxide alarms in every house.
however, by pressing the test button as per the manufacturers instructions only tests the battery to the bell and not the sensor which is the life critical part of the alarm
the only safe way to fully test a carbon monoxide alarm is with a product called Detectagas. http://www.detectagas.com