Invest in furnace maintenance today and avoid huge bills in the future!
The most common reason why most furnaces premature breakdown or replacement is lack of in-time maintenance. All manufacturers require routine maintenance in their user manuals and warranties for that exact reason. If you want to avoid losing a warranty and replacing your furnace, we recommend starting investing in furnace maintenance today
A properly cleaned and maintained furnace operates far more efficiently, serves you longer, helps you save money on your monthly bills and gives you peace of mind. Choosing Plumbhouse in London, Ontario you get certified professionals with 15+ years of experience in furnace installation, maintenance and repair.
Call us today for a free furnace maintenance quote!
What is the difference between furnace maintenance and furnace repair?
Maintenance is done on a working system before any breakdowns happen. The goal here is to make sure your furnace will keep running smoothly. During the maintenance session, all systems are checked and adjusted to ensure to make sure they are working properly.
Repair needs to be done only after there has been a breakdown. The goal here is to conduct a diagnostic and fix the issue with your heating equipment. Unlike the price for maintenance, the cost of furnace repair can’t be determined over the phone and can be identified only after diagnostics.
How does the furnace maintenance work?
Our professional team at Plumbhouse has designed a check-list to address all common furnace problems. We go through this checklist with every furnace maintenance client:- Replace the air filter
- Clean and adjust the pilot light
- Inspect Burner System
- Inspect Heat Exchanger
- Inspect Flue Pipe
- Lubricate moving parts
When is the best time to start furnace maintenance?
The best time to start is early fall because furnaces in London, Ontario usually spend all summer inactive. We will give your furnace a full check to make sure everything is functioning properly and your heating system is ready for a cold winter.
Even if you missed fall and the snow is already at your door front, you can still enjoy the benefits of professional furnace maintenance for the rest of that winter and many winters to come.
Furnace Maintenance Tips
Check your air filter regularly
- A dirty filter can cause lots of problems. The most common ones are:
- Failure of the blower motor
- Bad Heat Exchanges
- Plugging of A-Coil
- Hi-Limit Switch Stuck open
- All these problems can lead to the replacement of one or several parts, as well as replacement of the whole furnace.
- When you’re replacing the filter, pay attention to the arrow on the filter. The arrow should be pointing towards the blowing motor (furnace).
- During the Autumn and Spring seasons, 1 filter can last up to 3 months, while in winter, it lasts around 3-4 weeks.
- You might need to replace your filters more frequently when you’re doing the remodelling.
Regular duct cleaning
- The most important part is to get your coil cleaned because it will prevent your furnace from overheating.
- If you do the remodelling in your house, the duct gets plugged up very fast. You should clean the duct after the remodelling is done.
- Duct cleaning is not something you can do yourself. You should seek help from certified specialists for that.
- Right after the duct cleaning, your new air filter will get dirty much faster (about 1 week), be sure to replace it to prevent overheating.
Keep return grills open
- Never close more than ⅓ of all supplies in your house. Optimally, you should keep them all open.
- Check your return grills, make sure they aren’t blocked. If they are blocked, your furnace will overheat.
Check thermostat
- The low-battery symbol shows up when the batteries are low. However, you can miss that notification and find yourself with a thermostat that is not responding to your input.
- Your thermostat might also run into a program mode and strat changing the temperature all the time, instead of holding the one you chose. It is a good idea to learn how the thermostat program mode works to recognize this behaviour next time something goes wrong.
Check intake and Exhaust pipes (for high-efficiency furnaces)
- Make sure your pipes outside the house are not covered with snow. If the exhaust and intake are covered with snow, your furnace is going to stop working. Make sure the area underneath the pipes is shovelled, so the snow is not getting too high.
Examine the furnace for leaks
- If you notice any rust buildup or freshwater, try to figure out where that water comes from. It might be from the ac or humidifier. Only high-efficiency furnaces(with PVC pipes) create water that might leak.
Regularly clean the flame sensor
- Make sure you turn the furnace off before taking the flame sensor out.
- Use a scouring pad to clean the sensor. Don’t use sandpaper for that purpose, as dust builds up much faster after you use sandpaper. Grip it with the scouring pad and polish it up until gets the shiny metal look.