No matter where I travel around Lake Zurich and Long Grove, I get asked the same question every year: “Do I need to clean my furnace annually?” The answer is: YES, you really do need to have your furnace cleaned and tuned up annually! A clean furnace is more efficient, lasts longer, and reduces repairs, but the main reason to clean your furnace is the safety of you and your family.
Seriously, have you EVER bought a product that broke shortly after you bought it? Of course you have. So why would it be different with a furnace? It can breakdown or malfunction – which could put your family at risk – why take that chance?
Don’t get me wrong, furnaces are very safe devices when installed correctly and properly maintained. Yet, upwards of 500 people die from CO poisoning each year. Add to that, nearly 50,000 people end up going to the hospital each year from the same accidental poisoning, but were saved and treated. What makes this so deadly and scary is when too much carbon monoxide is in the air, your body replaces the oxygen in your red blood cells with carbon monoxide. This can lead to serious tissue damage, and even death. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas and is produced from the burning of many different types of fuels including natural gas and propane. You don’t even realize it is in the air. As you breath it in, oxygen in your blood stream gets replaced by CO which makes you feel tired. Many fatalities happen when a person falls asleep in a contaminated environment and never wake up.
The issue doesn’t even have to be with the furnace itself. Some people end up having a venting issue that they are unaware of, which could block the exhaust gases from leaving your home correctly, such as a rusted through flue pipe. There could also be a split in your furnace’s heat exchanger allowing those exhaust gases to leak directly into the home. There are many ways this poison gas can get into our home.
When you hire Aaron & Trecker Furnace and Air Conditioning for preventative maintenance on your heating system, our technicians check all of the issues I’ve mentioned for proper function and many more.
In addition to improved safety, having a clean furnace helps it to operate more efficiently. You use less energy and the unit burns more efficiently. Additionally, a clean unit runs at the designed temperature, which maintains the life span of the parts and unit as a whole. When a unit gets dirty it tends to run at a higher temperature which shortens the life span of many parts and the entire unit itself. Having your furnace cleaned annually helps to ensure your unit is running at the furnace’s peak performance level. Whether you live in a downtown area like Barrington or in a more rural setting like Deer Park, the need for maintenance remain the same.
One last thought on furnace maintenance: When the temperature reaches -24 degrees, like with last year’s polar vortex, I want to know that when I need my furnace most, it is safe, efficient and ready to meet the worst weather we can face in greater northern Illinois. With a professional cleaning and tune-up from Aaron & Trecker Furnace and Air Conditioning in Lake Zurich you will have that peace of mind! Give us a call to learn more about how we can help maintain the safety and efficiency of your home heating system.
