When it comes to your heating system, there’s one rule that holds true: when you take proper care of it, it’s going to reward you with great results. Typically, these great results are going to come in the form of more effective heating, better energy efficiency, and far fewer costly repair jobs. Staying consistent about caring for your appliances can seem daunting, but there’s no reason that keeping your furnace in good shape needs to be stressful or difficult. For the most part, it’s simply about establishing the right habits and paying attention to what your heating system is telling you. With the new year approaching, why not make a commitment to yourself and your household to give your heating system the care and attention it deserves?
1. KEEP UP WITH REGULAR SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE
Your furnace is a finely tuned machine, and it has many different components working hard together to keep you warm. As you would expect, these parts can become worn out or experience malfunctions over years of use. Because of this, it’s completely normal that your heating system is going to gradually lose its effectiveness and efficiency over time, especially if you’ve got the thermostat turned up regularly. The best way to combat this type of decline is with regular professional maintenance.
Generally speaking, you should try to schedule a maintenance visit for your heating system at least once a year. If you haven’t been consistent with it recently, the start of a new year is a great time to get back on track. When you call in a heating technician for maintenance, they will inspect your heater and make any possible adjustments to improve its heating ability. These tweaks will be aimed at keeping you warmer consistently as well as being more energy efficient. This will result in your monthly bills decreasing while your comfort level increases. The heating expert will also look for warning signs of anything that could be wrong with the appliance. In some cases, they’ll find something that they can take preventative measures against. You may even end up saving hundreds of dollars by preventing a major problem before it results in a system breakdown.
2. REPLACE THE AIR FILTER REGULARLY
Before your home’s heater can distribute warm air through your ducts, vents, and into your living room or bedroom, all of that air must first pass through your HVAC filter. That filter has the essential task of catching the dust, pet dander, and other debris that inhabits the air before it goes through your furnace. This ensures that the heated air you end up breathing is as free of pollutants and irritants as possible. However, if you don’t clean or replace the filter on a regular basis, all of those contaminants start to accumulate and clog up the system. This is a major problem for your heating system because it makes it much harder to draw air through the filter. As a result, the amount of strain on your heater will go way up. This will decrease its energy efficiency, shorten its lifespan, and make malfunctions or breakdowns much more likely. It may also have a negative effect on the quality of the air you’re breathing.
To avoid that wasted money and damage to your furnace, all you need to do is make a habit of checking your HVAC filter each month. If the buildup of debris hasn’t gotten too bad, you’ll probably be okay just giving it a thorough cleaning. However, if it’s in bad shape or you’re uncertain, it’s best to go the safe route and replace it with a new filter.
3. GIVE YOUR HEATER REGULAR BREAKS
To keep your heater healthier for the new year, another good habit to get into is giving it regular periods of rest. Just like any appliance or piece of equipment, your heating system is going to become worn down if it’s forced to operate constantly. When you regularly allow those components to rest, you’ll get far better results from the heater when you need to depend on it. One simple way to achieve this is by turning down the thermostat every night when you go to bed. If you’re bundled up under the covers, there’s no reason you should need the heater to be cranked up as high. By simply lowering the temperature five to 10 degrees Fahrenheit for those seven or eight hours each night, you can keep your furnace healthy and lower your monthly bills in the process.
Making use of your home’s curtains is another effective way to take some pressure off of your heater. Windows and glass doors tend to be a major source of heat escaping, but covering them up with curtains actually does a good job of keeping much of that warmth trapped inside. You can take advantage of this by closing all of your curtains in the evening. Typically, the extra heat those curtains trap should allow you to take some of the heating load off of your furnace. On the other hand, keep those curtains open wide when the sun is shining outside. The warmth from the sunlight will help keep you warm and diminish the need to crank up the heater.
4. CLEAN OUT YOUR VENTS CONSISTENTLY
The air vents in your home work together with your heating system to give you a consistent flow of clean, warm air. For this partnership to be effective, though, it’s important that the vents remain clean and clear of clogs. For one thing, excessive dust and debris in those vents will have a directly negative effect on the oxygen that you’re breathing. For your heater, the problem is that those particles of dust and other contaminants can build up in the vents or even work their way into your home’s ductwork. If neglected for long enough, this can result in clogs that prevent your heating system from effectively circulating air. This will have a negative impact on your comfort, your finances, and the health of your heater. Fortunately, all you need to do to avoid this is clean out the air vents each month. Simply remove the protective covers with a screwdriver, and use a vacuum with an extension hose to give each vent a thorough cleaning.
At Dragonfly Heating & Cooling, we have been a trusted supplier of home comfort services for the greater Orange County, CA, area since 2010. Our skilled technicians can provide your household with quality heating, cooling, and ductless mini-split services. Our team takes pride in being professional and experienced, and we always have the best interests of our customers in mind. We select our technicians and comfort specialists not only because they’re highly skilled but also because they share the values and visions that our company stands for. We have been providing the area with great products and services at competitive prices for over a decade, and we will strive to continue doing so for years to come.
Give us a call at Dragonfly Heating & Cooling today for more information about how we can improve your home comfort.
