When the weather is cold, it would be best to turn on your heating system. But before you switch on the furnace, you need to tune up the furnace to ensure that you are safe with your family. So, what is a furnace tune-up? You’ll find out.
HVAC professionals and qualified technicians recommend that you acquire an annual tune-up before switching on the furnace. Most of us don’t know what a furnace tune-up is, while others don’t understand why the experts recommend it. So, what is a furnace tune-up? You will find out in this article.
What is a Furnace Tune-Up?
A furnace tune-up refers to the checklist used by a qualified professional to clean, inspect, prep, and test your furnace back at home, especially during the winter. The checklist tends to differ from one company to another. Also, it majorly depends on the tune-up level you paid for.
Most of the performed tune-ups ensure that you can be able to use the furnace services till spring. A furnace tune-up often includes:
- Cleaning the furnace burners
- Testing the safety switches
- Thermostat calibration
- Tightening and cleaning electrical connections
- Testing the limit switches
- Checking the furnace operations
- Inspecting the pilot system.
Benefits of a Furnace Tune-up
Here are some of the benefits you will get once you decide to schedule your furnace for a service.
Ensures your furnace heats your home perfectly
If you call an HVAC professional or technician to inspect and do an overall furnace service, this will ensure that the furnace can work properly during the winter.
A furnace tune-up can include the professional testing of the furnace burners. It ensures that the burners present are lighting efficiently with no yellow flames and ensures that your furnace will switch on at the required temperature.
Even though these are the main reasons why a tune-up is needed, it is mandatory that before you begin using the furnace, you should know if it functions well and if it has some problems.
Getting a seasonal tune-up ensures that you do not lack the services of the furnace. It is necessary on a freezing winter night that you desperately need the extra warmth. A furnace tune-up ensures you can use your furnace at any time when you require it.
Detects problems
Whenever an HVAC technician performs a tune-up on your furnace, they must clean and check the furnace’s elements for any problems. Cleaning the furnace ensures that it doesn’t work extremely hard, causing it to burn out as quickly as possible.
Cleaning and double-checking the furnace before you begin using it can detect specific problems affecting the furnace before they develop and become even more dangerous.
Suppose an HVAC technician or professional inspect the burners present in your furnace and discovers that they are burning with a yellow flame instead of a blue one. In that case, this means that the burners do not completely burn the natural gas present in the system.
This problem has an easy fix. However, if it remains unattended for a long time, it can produce carbon monoxide, a dangerous gas. About five hundred people each year die due to this gas. Hence, a furnace service is highly recommended.
The HVAC technician or professional can detect dangerous problems affecting your furnace that you cannot detect by yourself, keeping you and your family safe and comfortable.
A regular furnace tune-up helps you save money
As of now, you are already aware of what is a furnace tune-up. Also, you know how it helps those with forced-air heating unit systems back at their place keep warm and comfortable.
A furnace tune-up from a professional can cost around one hundred and two hundred dollars. However, it eventually saves you a lot of money in the future as it keeps your furnace running without any problems all winter long.
Most HVAC technicians or experts say that almost eighty percent of the furnace problems during the winter season are due to a lack of regular furnace maintenance. In case you do not perform a regular furnace tune-up before kicking on the furnace, you will probably spend a lot of money in the future when replacing or repairing the furnace.
If you possess a home warranty, you will significantly reduce the cost of your energy bills depending on how well you maintain your system. When you haven’t cleaned your furnace for a long time and did not tighten the connections present, your furnace might still function. However, the furnace will work even harder and burn a lot of fuel. Thus, the energy bills increase, something that we want to avoid as homeowners. It goes the same if the switches are poorly operating.
Keeps the Furnace Functioning for Longer Periods
As of now, you are aware of a furnace tune-up and how it helps improve the furnace’s overall performance. It would help if you were mindful that regular furnace tune-ups keep the heating system together with the furnace running for more extended periods.
If you do not maintain and clean your furnace regularly, this will force the furnace to work harder. Eventually, the furnace parts tend to wear out faster. It means that it will only take a short duration before you start spending a lot of money on repairs and replacing the whole system.
If you take good and proper care of your appliances and systems back at home, this will ensure that they last for more extended periods.
What is a Furnace Tune-Up – Conclusion
You already know what a furnace tune-up is and some of the benefits it brings to our homes. It is better to conduct a furnace tune-up through an HVAC expert or technician who will clean and maintain your forced air heating system as you enter the winter season.
Also, ensure that you have a warranty present. It is essential so that when damages occur, you will significantly reduce your overall cost to fix those repairs. A regular furnace tune-up is essential in keeping you and your family warm and comfortable as you enter the cold winter season.
