Guide to Proper Furnace Maintenance

It’s your furnace which keeps your home comfortable all year round hence knowing a little about how to maintain your furnace is essential for any homeowner. Incase you are not away on how to maintain your furnace properly this guide will be of help to you

Suppose you are having trouble with your furnace make sure that the whole system is turned on and also that the circuit breaker is set properly.  Also be sure that the furnace is properly plugged in and if the furnace still wont come on then you will need to try tripping and resetting all the breakers which are attached to it .

Incase your furnace keeps blowing fuses or if it keeps tripping circuits then it is best that you don’t attempt fixing the problem yourself since it is probably an electrical issue that needs a professional touch.  Never attempt to fix anything with a gas smell in the house, Instead simply get out and call the fire department and the local gas company.

If there doesn’t seem to be a major problem however your furnace still won’t work then it is a good idea to try calibrating your thermostat. First thing to do is check that the thermostat isn’t improperly influenced by the outside temperature , by drafts or holes in the walls ,  and then you need to tape a mercury thermometer a few inches away from your thermostat making sure that it isn’t touching the wall by putting it on a piece of paper towel .  Incase the thermostat and the thermometer are more than one degree then you need to clean the thermostat by taking off the fire plate and blowing away the dust. The coils or contact pants need to be cleaned with a soft brush or a new dollar bill.  You then need to check that the screws on your thermometer are tight particularly if it works with a mercury thermometer which may not be completely straight.  After this, check the thermostat again. This is also very important to be ensured.

In case your temperature is back on track with the actual temperature then you only need to see if the furnace is working properly or else you may need to replace the entire thermostat and this is a more complicated process.

Suppose your thermostat and furnace aren’t working for any kind of reason then your furnace needs to be worked on.  However it is vital to get a professional to perform an yearly furnace maintenance as you can spend a lot of money on repairs and extra electricity bills if your furnace isn’t properly cleaned and lubricated at the beginning of each heating session. Its advisable to consider doing it middle of summer as you can get an appointment easily and you may be able to get yourself a discount as well as most people will consider doing their furnace maintenance once the summer is over and before the chilly winter season  begins .