As we creep our way towards March and what we hope will be warmer temperatures we still have to survive the tail end of winter. That means more cold nights in front of us! We will all be running our furnaces and humidifiers for some time to come. Acknowledging that fact brings two questions to mind, is your furnace operating safely, and are you spending way too much on your gas and electric bills?
A clean furnace is an efficient furnace. Clean furnaces simply use less gas and electricity cutting your energy bills. Proper maintenance helps your units to operate safer than a furnace not maintained. Ask yourself this, what would happen to your car’s gas mileage if you didn’t change the air filter? Would you see an MPG drop off? What about your clothes dryer in your home, if you don’t clean the lint screen would it take longer to dry your clothes there-by using more gas and electric? Of course, it would! It doesn’t matter if you live in Barrington, Lake Zurich, Palatine or the surrounding areas our heating needs are the same. Therefore, the need for regular and proper furnace and air conditioner maintenance is the same.
There are many ways the performance and safety of your furnace can get cut when dirty, so let’s look at a couple of examples that usually end up requiring a service call to repair. The furnace flame sensor gets dirty. This is a common repair and one of the most avoidable. The sensor thinks there is no pilot light and won’t start so your furnace simply won’t turn on. This one problem is about 15% of all furnace service calls, that’s how common of an issue it is and mostly preventable with simple maintenance!
What do you think would happen if the furnace blower motor blades get dirty? There would be an entire sequence of bad events happening, to start with you get less heat out of the vents because there is less airflow from the fan. Since there is less air movement across the furnace, the furnace runs hotter and hotter. This increased operating temperature prematurely wears out and kills the other furnace parts as they are not designed to work in that over-heated environment. This is especially hard on circuit boards and other digital parts that end up failing and will be needing replacement.
Additionally, the largest component in the furnace, the heat exchanger is exposed to excessive heat. That is the number one reason a heat exchanger cracks and fails. Once cracked, your safety has been compromised and either the heat exchanger needs replacing or the entire furnace has to be replaced. Either way, it is an expensive repair! To not repair/replace the heat exchanger puts everyone who lives in the home in danger. Many other issues will arise from a dirty furnace, the above examples are meant as an example, not the entire list.
Most people don’t think of it but your furnace also runs when you operate the air conditioner. You’re not burning gas but you are using the electronics including the blower motor. If your fan blades are dirty and you move less air you will waste electricity running the AC. Your unit will eventually freeze up due to low airflow and you will have no air conditioning. The unit continues to run using a lot of electricity but gets zero cold air into your home. And that takes us full circle back to not having the furnace cleaned properly.
It is important to choose the right furnace and air Conditioning company. The work done to preform maintenance is not always the same. Aaron & Trecker has developed a reputation for professional service and fair pricing! Our commitment to quality work ensures our customers the job is done right! We are home-based in Lake Zurich and service a large area in the northwest Chicago suburbs. We are ready and able to meet the growing demand for quality work and fast service!
We pride ourselves on educating our customers that by maintaining the furnace, you extend the useable life of the parts and furnace. The result of the maintenance is you’ll have fewer breakdowns and repairs. This, of course, lets the furnace last longer. The best solution to maintaining the health of your heating unit is to have annual maintenance done on the furnace. To find out more about maintaining your furnace and the quality service Aaron & Trecker provides, check out our Furnace Service page.
