4 Furnace Mistakes All Homeowners Should Avoid

If you live in a cold climate, you probably rely heavily on your furnace to keep you home at a comfortable temperature during the winter months. Unfortunately, if your furnace is not cared for properly, you can be left having to pay for expensive repairs or having to replace your whole furnace prematurely. If your home has a furnace, avoid these common mistakes:

Not Scheduling Maintenance

You probably wouldn't drive your car for years on end without having any maintenance done, and you shouldn't do so with your furnace either. A furnace is a complicated piece of machinery, and it requires regular maintenance by a trained HVAC professional in order to operate efficiently and run as long as possible. A good rule of thumb is to schedule a furnace tune-up each fall before you begin to use the furnace regularly to heat your home. 

Forgetting to Change the Filters

Changing the filters in a furnace is extremely easy and takes only a few minutes, but too many homeowners forget to do this simple task. When a filter is old and clogged, dust, debris, and other particles can build up inside the furnace and drastically decrease its efficiency. When this happens, the furnace has to work even harder to force out warm air, which leads to unnecessary wear and tear. If you want to extend the life of your furnace by a few years, make sure you get into the habit of changing the filter on a regular basis.

Bad Furniture Placement

When you're arranging furniture in the rooms in your home, it is essential that you do so in a way that ensures that none of the heating system air registers are blocked. When your furniture is blocking the air registers, the warm air can't flow properly and warm the room. The air that is then drawn into the furnace is still cold, and the furnace has to work harder and run longer to bring the room to temperature. You can prevent this problem and reduce the cost of your heating bill by ensuring that your furniture is positioned properly.

Ignoring Small Problems

A furnace will often let you know when there is a problem-- lack of warm air, squealing, and grinding sounds are all signs that there is something wrong with the furnace. Don't ignore these issues when they start happening-- having repairs done as soon as a problem begins can prevent further damage to your furnace and prevent your furnace from failing entirely. 

For more information regarding furnace up-keep, contact businesses such as Shakley Mechanical Inc.

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